Cosmos, self, and history in Baniwa religion
Subtitle: for those unborn
By: Robin M. Wright.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Austin
Language: eng
Number of pages: 314
Subjects: Baniwa Indians -- Religion.; Baniwa philosophy.; Baniwa Indians -- Social life and customs.; Shamanism -- Amazon River Valley.; Nativistic movements -- Amazon River Valley.; Christianity and culture -- Amazon River Valley.; Amazon River Valley -- Social life and customs.
Description: The Baniwa Indians of the Northwest Amazon (a frontier region on the borders of Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia) have engaged in millenarian movements since at least the middle of the nineteenth century. The defining characteristic of these movements is usually a prophecy of the end of this present world and the restoration of the primordial, utopian world of creation. This prophetic message, delivered by powerful shamans, has its roots in Baniwa myths of origin and creation.

In this ethnography of Baniwa religion, Robin M. Wright explores the myths of creation and how they have been embodied in religious movements and social action - particularly in a widespread conversion to evangelical Christianity.

This research sheds new light on millenarian, messianic, and prophetic movements in native South America. The book contributes to current theoretical discussions in anthropology on the links between myth, social action, and history. And it adds important new material to studies of the relations among native religions and Christianity.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [305]-310) and index.
Table of contents: title: Cosmogony : perspectives on the beginning and its legacy; title: Guardians of the cosmos; title: Indians and whites in Baniwa history; title: Music of the ancestors; title: The times of death; title: Spiritualities of death and birth; title: From rubber to the gospel; title: Deo iako : the creation of a new generation of believers.