Storia di armadillo, storia di Lince. Identità e opposizione in un rituale kichwa dell’Alta Amazzonia peruviana

Abstract

In this paper I want to analyze a problematic aspect of the Carachupeada dance of the kichwa Native Community, named Wayku (Peruvian Amazon). This ritual generates a confusion around two opposing concepts: some young people, dressed with plátano leaves, seem to symbolize (at the same time) the armadillo prey (carachupa) and the hunter. Moreover, several children represent dogs and carachupa puppies. Through some reflections presented by Claude Levi-Strauss in the essay The Story of Lynx, I’ll give a possible solution based on the philosophical sources of Amerindian dualism. I’ll also theorize the concept of fluidity, as an interpretative model of unstable human beings.