This presentation explores relational frameworks through which Makushi villagers in Surama interact with eco-tourists in Guyana. It shows how eco-tourists and their leaders are positioned in ways similar to shamanic spirits and how these relations resonate with early Makushi encounters with Anglican missionaries during the nineteenth century. It describes how Makushi groups have formed strategic alliances with outsiders in the past and present and how these relations continue to provide material and immaterial desiderata, which are used in local projects of individual and collective transformation. The central themes in this presentation are based on two recently published books: The Shamanism of Eco-Tourism (Cambridge University Press, 2025) and Indigenous Alliance Making (University of Arizona Press, 2025).
Speaker: James Whitaker
March 11 | 3pm (Lisbon)
Online
Link Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/