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The Arakmbut are an indigenous people who live in the Madre de Dios region of the southeastern Peruvian rain forest. Since their first encounters with missionaries in the 1950s, they have shown resilience and a determination to affirm their identity in the face of many difficulties. During the last fifteen years, Arakmbut survival has been under threat from a goldrush that has attracted hundreds of colonists onto their territories. This trilogy of books traces the ways in which the Arakmbut overcome the dangers that surround them: their mythology and cultural strength; their social flexibility; and their capacity to incorporate non-indigenous concepts and activities into their defence strategies. Each area is punctuated by the constant presence of the invisible spirit, which provides a seamless theme connecting the books to each other.
Volume 1 MYTHOLOGY, SPIRITUALITY, AND HISTORY
Volume 2 THE LAST SHAMAN
Change in an Amazonian Community
Volume 3 INDIGENOUS RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT
Self-Determination in an Amazonian Community
Buy all three volumes for 20% discount
About the author
Andrew Gray was, until his untimely death in 1999, Tutor in Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford. He was also a leading activist in indigenous rights, advising the Forest Peoples Programme and the International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) among other organizations.
Summary
The Arakmbut are an indigenous people who live in the Madre de Dios region of the southeastern Peruvian rain forest. Since their first encounters with missionaries in the 1950s, they have shown resilience and a determination to affirm their identity in the face of many difficulties. During the last fifteen years, Arakmbut survival has been under threat from a goldrush that has attracted hundreds of colonists onto their territories. This trilogy of books traces the ways in which the Arakmbut overcome the dangers that surround them: their mythology and cultural strength; their social flexibility; and their capacity to incorporate non-indigenous concepts and activities into their defence strategies. Each area is punctuated by the constant presence of the invisible spirit, which provides a seamless theme connecting the books to each other.
Volume 1
MYTHOLOGY, SPIRITUALITY, AND HISTORY
Volume 2
THE LAST SHAMAN
Change in an Amazonian Community
Volume 3
INDIGENOUS RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT
Self-Determination in an Amazonian Community
Buy all three volumes for 20% discount
Additional text
"... a solid contribution to the understanding of the relationship between Amazonian notions and contemporary international legal concepts of human rights ... (that) could become a reference text to be used in similar negotiations with other indigenous peoples." · L. E. Belaunde, University of Durham
