Political Shamanism by Guest Writer Mick Garnett

This article will examine pre-modern shamanic societies, focussing specifically on the South American regions of Guyana and Venezuela. Part of the reason is that shamans and shamanic practices still have an influence on these nations’ politics and societal culture. By the end of the seventeenth century the multiethnic social systems of these countries had been severely disrupted, mainly through indigenous Amerindian populations being decimated by disease and enslavement as a consequence of European colonialisation. Previously, these societies had been run by an internal interethnic hierarchy led by a paramount chief along with a powerful elite of subordinate secondary chiefs. Colonial conquest, and the social disruption it brought, caused a regrouping of the tribal social structures into a less hierarchical and more confederate form. Tribal societies became more varied and flexible in their ethnic membership, with intertribal alliances becoming the norm rather than the exception. Communities were led by charismatic chieftains, rather than high caste political hierarchies. Their power was sustained by their ability to generate a strong personal following (kinfolk, in-laws, allies), their skills and success as regional traders, and their shamanic knowledge and power in the spirit-world. Through the whole Rio Negro region there were as many as 15 such confederacies existing at one time. The expansion and domination of the colonial powers often involved the co-opting and favouring of one tribal group over another. This was a form of ethnic-ranking, and thus the Caribs and Arawaks were favoured over the Makushi, Warao and Yao, creating a system of prejudice and social inequality. With colonisation came a level of integration, both politically and culturally, as European goods were sought after, and valued, over traditional manufactures. Clan identities were held together and consolidated by powerful shaman-chiefs, who carried knowledge of both the cosmos and the ancestral past. They had influence not only over spiritual rituals and beliefs, but also agricultural practices, environmental exploitation and use of forest resources, daily diet and cooking, and accepted social behaviours.

Arawakan Shamans

As with all indigenous cultures, shamanic initiation practices involve periods of sexual abstinence, strict dietary regimes, and a strong mental make-up to endure physical ordeals. These practices elicit special supernatural powers, exhibited in the ability to rapidly memorize numerous songs and prayers, the names and formulas for medicines and poisons, and the psycho-physical capacity to deal with the ingestion of psychotropic substances. Arawak initiation involves 5 levels of knowledge, specialisation and practice that enables the shaman to mediate between the natural and supernatural worlds. These form an ascending hierarchy of power and influence, each encompassing the one below it:

1. Biniji – the one who prepares medicines with plants and water.
2. Malakana – the blower who cures by means of blowing tobacco smoke.
3. Uyukali – who cures by means of suctioning the ill parts of the body.
4. Sibunitei – the one who cures by means of divinations and dreams.
5. Hniwakali – the one who knows more, or who dreams knowledge.

The holders of the 5^th level were the great chiefs, political leaders who organised men in the sacred rituals and festivals, economic activities and commerce, and warfare. Many of the great native leaders of the past were powerful shamans, adept at facing and manipulating the occult world, these qualities being precisely those that supported their regional political power.

The shamanic tradition of healing and prophecy is known as kuwai or ‘the voice of creation’, which first made the world. Kuwai is also envisaged as a monstrous, primordial human being, master of all that is visible and invisible, who controls the sky and the universe through his power and knowledge, and who came to teach people the sacred rites of initiation. The ritual system of Kuwai is divided into mythical cycles, with each containing a corpus of narratives in the form of stories, myths, chants, songs and prayers. Shamanism also maintained the relationship originally established between the inepe miki nawi, or first ancestors, and the pjenawi or living elders. These are living adult individuals who have obtained great wisdom and important historical, mythological, ritual and practical knowledge. Mostly these elder men and women perform shamanic practices in the curing of illnesses and disease, using tobacco and plants as remedies. But on a lower level there are remedies known as pusanas. These are magic potions to obtain the sympathy of people, the love of someone, or to improve hunting or fishing success. But there are also those who are devoted to the use of poisons in order to bring harm to others. These ‘poison-owners’ are men and women who use the traditional botanical knowledge, including songs and prayers, to specifically kill and injure. These are the ones who engage in shamanic warfare, in order to serve the powers of destruction and chaos. The battles between shamans of light and dark are seen to reflect the cosmic conflict inherent at the root of creation.

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