Power and Knowledge - Discourse - Hendricks, Janet

Power and Knowledge: Discourse and Ideological Transformation among the
Shuar
Janet Wall Hendricks
American Ethnologist, Vol. 15, No. 2. (May, 1988), pp. 216-238.
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power and knowledge: discourse and ideological
transformation among the Shuar
JANET WALL HENDRICKS-University of Texas at Austin
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in anthropology and other disciplines in
the role of practice in the construction of social realities, particularly those related to systems
of domination (Giddens 1979; Bourdieu 1977a; Ortner 1984). In linguistics and linguistic phi-
losophy, much of this interest has focused on the role of linguistic practice, in the form of
speech or written texts, in the constitution of ideology (Habermas 1970, 1976; Fowler et al.
1979; Pecheux 1982; Ricoeur 1981). However, studies of language in specific ideologies usu-
ally emphasize the reproduction of relations of domination through class distinctions at the
level of individual utterances, as in Bourdieu's analysis of symbolic domination (1977b) or the
proposal by Fowler et al. (1979) to integrate the study of language with social analysis through
an analysis of syntax and its contexts of use. While such studies adopt a social and contextual
approach to meaning, the restriction of their analyses to linguistic form implies that meaning i s
fixed by linguistic structures. An investigation of the relationship between language and ide-
ology needs to take into consideration the symbolic content of the linguistic product as well as
its form, and to take a discourse-centered approach, which not only looks at larger linguistic
products (for example, texts, discourses), but also considers their relationship to the production
of ideological structures.
Stressing the constitutive role of language in the production of ideology, this paper focuses
on two alternative discourses pertaining to notions of power and knowledge among the Shuar
of southeastern Ecuador. I will examine Shuar notions of power and knowledge as they are
expressed in discourse and demonstrate that these linguistic constructs validate the traditional
ideological structure, and that the same concepts have been transformed to create a new ide-
ological structure. I suggest that these ideological structures are created, in part, through dis-
courses, defined as modes of talking related to specific area of social life (Kress 1985), and
through a mobilization of meaning in political speech that legitimates relations of domination.
Much of the literature on ideology suggests some difficulty in applying the concept to tradi-
tional societies. Gouldner (1976), for example, claims that ideology emerged in the 18th and
19th centuries as older traditions declined and modern science developed. The work of Gram-
sci and his followers, along with many others, tends to limit ideology to class societies. Other
writers, however, offer a more general view of ideology, defining it as "systems of beliefs" or
"systems of thought" (Geertz 1973; Seliger 1976). Although these definitions allow a more
Language i s constitutive of social reality through the constant articulation and re-
inforcement of significant linguistic concepts, which give meaning to social rela-
tions. Among the Shuar of southeastern Ecuador, discourses on power and knowl-
edge validate the traditional ideological structure and create a new ideological
structure through the mobilization of meaning in political speech that legitimates
relations of domination. ideological transformation i s assisted by a cultural predis-
position to seek non-Shuar sources of technical and symbolic knowledge i n the
acquisition of power. [Shuar, political change, discourse, ideology, power]
216 american ethnologist

universal application of the concept, they tend to overlap with definitions of culture, while
losing the essential critical conception of ideology, which maintains that ideology i s linked to
the process of maintaining domination or sustaining asymmetrical relations of power.
I believe that the incorporation of language into the analysis of ideology allows us to solve
some of these problems. If ideology consists of ideas and beliefs, then we must recognize that
ideas and beliefs are first constituted by language. VoloSinov states that as the "essential ingre-
dient accompanying all ideological creativity," words are the "fundamental object of the study
of ideologies" (1981 : I 51). Following J. B. Thompson, I view the study of ideology as "the ways
in which meaning (or signification) serves to sustain relations of domination" (1984:4). Such a
view preserves the critical aspect of ideology, while not requiring one to retain the Marxian
notion of ideology as false consciousness. As language i s a means of social action and ideology
operates through language, ideology is partially constitutive of what is "real" in society
(Thompson 1984). Language continuously articulates ideology, whether by affirming the exist-
ing beliefs and practices related to power or by insisting on new ones.
There is still the problem, however, of applying the critical conception of ideology to tradi-
tional, "egalitarian" societies. Yet, few, if any, societies are without some form of domination,
whether it is based on age, gender, kinship, or some more institutionalized form of domination.
Bourdieu makes a useful distinction between modes of domination, stating that in some soci-
eties "relations of domination are made, unmade, and remade in and by the interactions be-
tween persons," while in others in which social formations are "mediated by objective, insti-
tutionalized mechanisms, . . . relations of domination have the opacity and permanence of
things" (Bourdieu 1977a:184). In either case, forms of domination are supported and legitim-
ized by ideology through language, whether in the form of mythology and traditional oratory
or the hegemonic apparatuses that spread ideology in modern societies, such as schools and
the communicative media.
ethnographic context
Historically, the Shuar were an Amazonian society economically based on horticulture and
hunting, and politically based on a balance of power among autonomous groups engaged in
constant warfare, feuding, shifting alliances, and trade. Political power among Jivaroan groups
was diffuse throughout the society through the intermittent power of individuals in specialized
roles pursued independently without reference to any structured framework (Kelekna 1984).
Yet, contact with the national society and with missionaries in recent years has resulted in the
voluntary adoption of a highly structured political system, the Federation de Centros Shuar,
complete with hierarchical ranking at every level and an ideology that legitimates its relations
of domination and reifies the system, representing it as a natural outgrowth of the traditional
political system.
Theencounterwith the Ecuadorian national society has been successful for the Shuar, in part,
because of their ability to accept some features of the dominant culture without becoming sub-
servient to the dominant group. The Federation, founded over 20 years ago by a few Shuar in
the Upano Valley, has been the principal instrument in preventing the Shuar from becoming a
colonized people, dominated by the larger, more powerful population of the region. The suc-
cess of the Federation, and ultimately the survival of the Shuar as a distinct group, depends
upon widespread acceptance of a new and, for most of them, alien ideology.
While problems of transition still exist, the Shuar are in fact embracing the Federation ide-
ology, which, rather than abandoning the traditional ideology, takes advantage of its recep-
tiveness to change. In the interior, the principal agent of change is the Federation rather than
the white population. As yet, the centros' east of the Cordillera de Kutuku are not threatened
by the massive colonization that forced the western Shuar to adopt a political system that could
power and knowledge among the Shuar 217

cope with issues of land tenancy and other problems inherent in the frontier expansion of the
national society.
The centro system of the Federation developed in response to the Ecuadorian government's
interest in the Oriente as a political solution to land shortage in the highlands and the subse-
quent migrations of colonists from the highlands to the area. Issuing a series of agrarian reform
laws and establishing agencies such as IERAC (Institute Ecuatoriano de la Reforma Agraria y la
Colonization), the government legalized state possessions, all undeveloped land being re-
garded as state property, and encouraged highland peasants to colonize the "uninhabited"
land of the Oriente. The new laws emphasized the right of the peasant to obtain title to the land
he works, and later ones added the concept of the "social function" of the land. That is, the
land, being a productive asset, must benefit the community or nation as well as the individual
owner. The result was to force indigenous groups such as the Shuar to imitate the colonists'
modes of production or risk losing the land to the colonists.
The Federation's response was to seek global rather than individual titles to land2 and to
initiate a cattle-raising program, designed to help Shuar centers to plant pastures and raise cat-
tle. Using funds donated by private organizations, both foreign and Ecuadorian, the Federation
began offering loans for cattle cooperatives in the centers in 1969. Only legally constituted
Shuar centers can apply for such loans, and as members of the Federation, they are subject to
all its regulations, including the election of a Directive Council consisting of a sindico, vice-
sindico, secretary, treasurer, and two members-at-large. Membership also makes the commu-
nity eligible for educational and health care services.
The presence of Shuar centers in areas not yet affected by colonization is partly the result of
the economic and social advantages just described, along with the Federation's ability to dis-
tribute information on the dangers of colonization through Radio Federacion, a well-organized
and highly sophisticated radio station used to disseminate political messages and to provide
educational and cultural programs. However, the establishment of centers in these areas does
not explain the gradual acceptance of an ideology of Shuar unity, dependency, and subordi-
nation within a hierarchical political order,' which, on the surface, appears to contradict their
traditional beliefs. Such a transformation must be seen as the reproduction of the social reality
already existing in Shuar society. The connection between the pre-Federation4and Federation
ideologies is found in the beliefs and values associated with the Shuar concepts of power and
knowledge, concentrated symbols in the traditional ideology, which, because of their multi-
dimensional nature, can be interpreted in such a way as to be compatible with the ideology
endorsed by the Federation.
In the interior Shuar centers, two discourses centered on Shuar notions of power and knowl-
edge are prominent in the political domain and are expressed in the context of the political
oratory of tradition-oriented and Federation-oriented leaders at the local level, as well as in the
ways these concepts enter into ordinary conversation. The role of pre-Federation discourse on
power and knowledge i s constitutive in that the set of concepts included in it affirm a reality
that the Shuar accept as natural. The role of Federation discourse is transformative in that the
new meanings given to power and knowledge affirm a reality that is significantly different from
the pre-Federation one. Pre-Federation ideological discourse has not been abandoned, but has
changed in the colonized regions in accordance with the social reality facing the Shuar today.
However, Federation discourse is represented to the interior Shuar as traditional in order to
validate Federation ideology as a natural sequel to pre-Federation beliefs and practices. This
ideological transformation i s assisted by beliefs concerning power and knowledge that promote
social change, stimulating behavior that opens the way for change. That is, the cultural em-
phasis on the acquisition of power through the control of technical and symbolic knowledge
demands that individuals reach out to new sources of power and knowledge.

pre-Federation ideological discourse
discourse on power and knowledge For the Shuar, power, or kakdram, is not merely the
ability to achieve one's goals in the face of opposition; it is a vital force necessary for survival.
All men and women have power, as do plants, animals, spiritual beings, and some inanimate
objects. Kakdram is identified with physical strength, endurance, sexual potency, loudness,
forcefulness, and courage. A man is said to be kakdram if he has many children, is a good
hunter, speaks well, and is an outstanding warrior. The reflexive form of the verb, kakdrmatin,
means "to make oneself courageous" and "to endure" or "to be resistant." The transitive form,
ikidkartin, includes the meanings of "to give courage," "to vitalize," and "to give life." The
opposite of kakdram i s kakdrmach, which means not only weakness, but also includes notions
like "cowardly," "impotent," and "worthless."
To understand how the notion of kakdram influences the beliefs and actions of the modern
Shuar, one must understand how the Shuar sense of self has been forged by prominent themes
in their heritage. Kakdram is intimately associated with the practices and beliefs related to war-
fare, feuding, and violence, and these practices and beliefs cannot be ignored simply because
the wars have ended and there has been a decline in the frequency of assassinations attributed
to feuds. The societal emphasis on the acquisition of power is linked to a societal focus on
violence, which has been little diminished by the cessation of warfare and the introduction of
a centralized political authority. Each man must prepare himself for the possibility of violence,
for everyone has potential enemies, and acquiring personal power reduces the chance that he
will be attacked successfully by his enemies. Moreover, each man's image of himself and of
others is perceived largely in terms of kakdram.
Discourse on power among the interior Shuar clearly demonstrates that the concept is a
highly individualistic one. Shuar men often tell stories of famous raids when warriors united for
war, but they always emphasize the power and courage of individual warriors rather than the
collective power of the group. Shuar individualism is consistentwith the highly atomistic struc-
ture of pre-Federation Shuar society in which each household was a politically autonomous
unit and political power was pursued independently. Furthermore, the acquisition of personal
power is an individualistic endeavor, which, although culturally patterned, encourages the in-
dividual to explore new sources of power, and the notion of power includes the belief that
foreign sources of power are more potent than Shuar sources.
Although all humans possess kakdram, some men have more than others, and it is in this
respect that power as a vital force becomes associated with relations of domination, or political
power. In the dispersed settlements of the pre-Federation Shuar, each household had a head-
man who was the most powerful person in that household. The absence of villages allowed
some men to remain isolated from other, more powerful men, thereby retaining their auton-
omy. However, some ambitious men sought political power through specialized roles such as
the shaman, warrior, or big man, and their strategies were based on the individual accumula-
tion of power. Thus, a man's kakdram was not expressed in terms of a structural relationship to
others, but only in terms of his personal achievements.
The possession of power provides the prestige necessary for influencing the behavior of oth-
ers. Foucault states that "power exists only when it is put into action" (1982:219). One infor-
mant told me that you only know someone i s powerful when he has done something that dem-
onstrates his power, perhaps bewitching someone. However, the social influence of a sorcerer
i s derived not from his ability to act on others, but from the fear he creates, which causes others
to behave with deference toward him.
In effect, what defines a relationship of power is that it is a mode of action which does not act directly
and immediately on others. Instead it acts upon their actions: an action upon an action, on existing
actions or those which may arise in the present or the future [Foucault 1982:221].

A man who i s kakdram i s someone to fear, though not simply because he can dominate
others by an act of will. His power may harm others unintentionally as a result of his anger or
displeasure, which can bring misfortune to those against whom the anger is directed. Men who
possess power greater than that of others become the political leaders, because lesser men
would rather obey them, or at least not openly oppose them, than risk their displeasure.
However, allegiance to powerful men is also based on loyalty, since such men provide less
powerful men with protection from enemies, and their skills and knowledge provide security
in economic and social relations as well. While warriors and shamans have influence primarily
over their particular areas of expertise, the uunt ("big man" or "old man") of a neighborhood,
who may also be a shaman or warrior, has a more generalized sphere of influence. A big man
achieves power through building up a network of alliances through his own and his daughters'
marriages and through controlling access to land. His skill in social relationships allows him to
acquire a number of wives and many children, keep his sons-in-law nearby as political allies,
and create personal obligations among his kinsmen, thereby becoming the principal uunt of a
neighborhood. Personal characteristics that enhance a big man's reputation are skill in hunting,
physical strength, generosity, knowledge of mythology, ritual, and nature, and speaking ability.
The success of an uunt is subject only to his ambition and skill. Like the shaman or warrior, the
uunt is feared, since old age gives testimony to a man's supernatural power and knowledge in
that he has achieved old age in spite of his enemies and the attacks of sorcerers. However, his
ability to settle disputes among relatives, give advice on marriage arrangements and economic
activities, and generally, to help create social cohesion in the neighborhood through his lead-
ership produces a personal loyalty among his people that tempers the more coercive manifes-
tations of power based on fear.
Knowledge i s a resource in the exercise of power in all societies, but in traditional societies,
knowledge is often explicitly identified with power. For example, the Canelos Quichua shaman
is called "one who knows," and it is believed that "the more he knows, the stronger he be-
comes" (Whitten 1985:l 14). In Western social systems, it is privileged access to knowledge
that gives some individuals and groups an advantage over others in the struggle for power (Fou-
cault 1982). However, in egalitarian traditional societies, knowledge usually is not privileged,
except on the basis of age and gender. Anyone may seek knowledge in such traditional domains
as mythology, curing, and magic. Among the Shuar, knowledge is power and a powerful person
is defined as such in terms of the kind and amount of knowledge he possesses.
Knowledge (nekdmu) i s associated with the heart and thinking, and refers to knowing, feel-
ing, experiencing, and truth. The connection between thinking and the heart i s expressed lin-
guistically in that the terms are derived from the same root, enentai. The root by itself means
"heart," while enentdisatin means "to think." In addition, enentai may be translated in some
contexts as "idea," "intention," and "thought," as in niish enentai enkeatawai (he will put in
his ideas also). Both are connected to knowledge in expressions such as enentdisha jintinidi-
yatniuitji, (we should teach the heart). The Shuar say that thoughts are carried to the rest of the
body through blood.
Thinking refers not only to mental operations, but also to a necessary prerequisite for proper
behavior. A person is said to think well if he gets along with his neighbors and fulfills his obli-
gations. Someone who fails to carry out his obligations or constantly argues with his neighbors
is said to think badly and have a bad heart. The knowledge held in the heart is also necessary
for making decisions concerning when to retaliate against enemies and when to seek recon-
ciliation. Referring to his decision to go on a raid as a youth to avenge the death of his father,
a warrior said, "Because I had a good heart, I would have died without seeing a single child."
Among the Shuar "learning" is said to occur in the brain, whereas "thinking" occurs in the
heart. The brain is the repository of practical or technical knowledge, that is, learned facts such
as those learned in school or technical knowledge taught by one's elders. The heart, on the
other hand, is where one holds ideas, feelings, and intentions, and the knowledge obtained

through vision quests and dreams. Both the heart and the brain are necessary in the acquisition
of power, since power i s obtained through mastery of both technical and symbolic k n o ~ l e d g e . ~
As with power, the potency of knowledge i s enhanced by its distance from local sources.
The most valued experiential knowledge i s that gained by travel to distant places. The Shuar
man who never leaves his home i s not likely to be regarded as powerful because his under-
standing of the world is limited to the experiences common to everyone in the local group,
even the women and children. A man who has traveled has knowledge of sources of power
beyond the comprehension of others around him, and having that knowledge, i s believed to
possess some measure of that power.
Another mode of acquiring knowledge is through the numerous myths related to every facet
of Shuar culture. O f special importance are Etsa and Nuckui, who typify the ideal man and
woman respectively and who impart all of the knowledge concerning their roles in life. Etsa
taught the Shuar the arts of hunting, constructing blowguns and darts, and warfare, as well as
proper behavior in the family. Nunkui provides women with a model for caring for gardens,
giving birth to children, making pottery, and being an obedient wife.
Shuar mythology also indicates that knowledge is directly related to the process of social
transformation in Shuar thought. In mythical times, the acquisition of knowledge gave the Shuar
the power to change their lives from an uncivilized and primitive existence to a well-ordered
society by providing the technical and ritual skills necessary for obtaining sufficient food and
the rules for maintaining harmonious social relations. Michael Brown argues that knowledge
has a civilizing role in Aguaruna myths.6
Nevertheless, the general direction of change from mythical times to the present is toward increased
understanding of and control over the environment. Aguaruna myths stress the civilizing power of
knowledge itself, since it is knowledge that allows human beings to triumph over poverty and evil
[ I 985:49].
Power i s achieved through a combination of the knowledge of the techniques of symbolic

control over important resources and knowledge of a technical nature. For example, hunting
ability is considered important evidence of a man's personal power, for a man must master a
great deal of technical and symbolic knowledge to hunt well. To be a good hunter, a man must
control a vast amount of knowledge about the jungle and its inhabitants. He must know the
habits of all the animals he hunts, where to find them and when, and the calls each of them
makes; and he must be accomplished in the use of several weapons. An effective hunter must
also be able to construct blinds and traps, track game through dense forest, and stalk the game
when found.
In addition to the technical knowledge necessary for successful hunting, an effective hunter
must control the symbolic knowledge associated with hunting. He must know, for example,
how to interpret his dreams so that he knows whether it i s an auspicious day for hunting a
particular animal. He must have knowledge of the food taboos associated with hunting the
animal. Most important, he must know the hunting songs (anent) that attract game to the area
and make the animals reveal themselves to the hunter.
The technical skills of hunting are usually taught by fathers to their sons. Hunting songs,
however, may be bought or traded as well as taught by close relatives, and successful hunters
are sought out for their knowledge of particularly powerful hunting anent. Moreover, the prac-
tice of acquiring magical songs from other peoples i s widespread. I was told of songs originating
from CofAn, Achuar, and Quichua groups, and Brown states that the words of some Aguaruna
hunting songs are borrowed from the Shuar, Quichua, and Spanish languages (1 985:74). Thus,
in acquiring power and knowledge for hunting, the Shuar are encouraged to seek sources out-
side of their own group.
In the acquisition of power, the most important knowledge i s that of the "real" world, the
world seen in ordinary dreams and in visions induced by hallucinogenic substances. In jour-
neys to the supernatural world, an individual learns the true nature of the universe and the

means to control events in this world. Anyone may enter the supernatural world to obtain
guardian spirits for protection against sorcery. Without such protection an individual cannot
expect to live much beyond childhood. However, the most potent kind of power and knowl-
edge obtained in this way is that possessed by shamans. Shamanic knowledge is largely ex-
periential, consisting of the accumulation of techniques and facts about the universe learned
during journeys to the other world. The Shuar accept knowledge gained in this way as valid
because everyone has acquired at least some knowledge from extraordinary experiences in the
form of dreams. The shaman's mastery of symbolic knowledge allows him to "see" what others
cannot, to transform himself into power animals, and to manipulate the supernatural world in
order to cure or bewitch.
In referring to shamanic power, kakdrarn i s only one of the words used to indicate power.
The shaman is also referred to as tujinkiachu (one who is able). The word i s derived from the
verb tujintkiatin (to be unable), with the negative suffix ichui. Another word indicating power
and often used in connection with shamans is tirniau, literally ti-irnid-du (very much that). Tirn-
iau means "large" or "strong" in addition to "powerful," and can have a negative as well as
positive meaning, which conforms to the Shuar view of the ambiguity of power. The statement,
timiauwditiajai (I am very powerful) can mean that the speaker has a terrible, essentially evil
power or that he is a great man, known for his wisdom and generosity.
Shamans must complete an apprenticeship, buying tsentsak, magical darts used in both cur-
ing and sorcery, from established shamans and seeking power through fasting, celibacy, and
the use of the hallucinogenic drug, natbm (Banisteriopsis sp.). The master shaman blows over
the natern, the tobacco, and over the body of the novice himself to transmit his power or mag-
ical darts. When Etsa taught the Shuar to hunt, he blew tobacco into the mouth of the hunter
in order to transmit his power to make his aim certain. Nunkui blew on a woman's hands to
teach her to make pottery. That the shaman, Etsa, and Nunkui are transmitting knowledge as
well as power is suggested by the use of the term umpudrtin (to blow) in contexts in which the
meaning is "to teach."
Two important features of Shuar shamanic power are that it is an exchangeable commodity
and that it is derived primarily from sources outside the group. Taylor says of Achuar shamans,
"the shaman, uwishin, is a specialist in symbolic relations with the outside. . . shamanistic
power i s derived from sources outside the group, and the more remote the source, the stronger
the power" (1981 :672).The Shuar place great value on foreignness, both in material goods and
in the symbolic domain. Quichua and Cofan shamans are believed to be more powerful than
Shuar shamans, who travel great distances to apprentice themselves to non-Shuar shamans. The
presence of a Quichua shaman in a Shuar center will bring a great many people from distant
centers seeking cures. Shuar shamans always try to buy the tsentsak used to perform cures from
distant shamans. Such power can be bought, sold, borrowed, or even stolen. Power symbols
are borrowed from the whites also. For example, most Shuar shamans now cross themselves
before drinking natern.
The value placed on foreign power is evident in the songs sung by shamans in curing cere-
monies. In the following excerpts from curing songs the shaman identifies himself with foreign
shamans, first the whites and then the Quichua of Napo province.
I am powerful
I bring the powerful darts
of the white shamans.
I am powerful
when I enter into trance among darts
I bring the most ferocious
of my cruel darts
I am powerful
being a Napo shaman
I bring my magical darts from the Napo.
222 arnerican ethnologist

Discourse on power and knowledge not only provides the meanings that affirm the pre-Fed-
eration ideology, but language use is often the mechanism through which the relations of dom-
ination supported by that ideology are realized. In societies where relations of domination are
constantly redefined through the interactions between people, forms of speech supply a means
of determining specific relationships. Among the Shuar, the performance of specific and often
highly formalized speech events puts into practice the meanings of power and knowledge in
the act of creating positions of dominance within an ideology of political autonomy, while at
the same time producing social cohesion through establishing a balance of power. Further-
more, formal speech events, such as ceremonial dialogues, have a semiotic function in which
the society's ideological structure is represented and validated.
Speaking ability is highly valued among the Shuar, a characteristic common to many indig-
enous groups in South America (Basso 1985; Seeger 1981; Sherzer 1983). A man who speaks
well is believed to be powerful, and forceful speech i s an indication of spiritual strength. For
example, after a young man goes to the waterfall to seek an arutam, the soul of an ancestor,
others will know of his success by the strength of his voice. Moreover, the effective use of lan-
guage i s considered to be a decisive factor in a man's success in social and economic activities.
"When a man occupies a position of low prestige, the form used to express the low esteem in
which he i s held is chichatsui, "doesn't talk," which is to say he doesn't know how to use
language (chicham)" (Gnerre 1986:309).
Pre-Federation speech events include a number of distinct forms, competence in which are
vital to a man's security, prestige, and ability to influence others. For example, Harner states
that the manipulation of degrees of kinship during encounters with strangers can save a man's
life (1972:103). Also, success in trading relationships and marriage arrangements depends
upon one's expertise in verbal dueling. Both the big man, who achieves domination through
controlling interpersonal relationships and land, and the warrior, who achieves domination
through his success in leading men into battle, must be competent in the verbal skills that can
give them decisive advantages in attracting allies and avoiding unplanned confrontations with
enemies. In a society that values individual autonomy, the balance of power is tipped by those
individuals who can best manipulate personal interactions to their advantage. Much as the Big
Men of New Guinea use skill in economic exchanges to gain dominance, Shuar leaders use
skill in verbal exchanges.
Perhaps the most important of the pre-Federation speech forms were the formal ceremonial
dialogues used in greetings and as a prelude to war. The performance of these dialogues was
an important skill learned by all young men as a necessary part of their training. Gnerre (1986)
reports that among the Achuar, a young man who lacks the ability to perform ceremonial dia-
logues cannot make visits, a situation which would prevent him from initiating any social in-
teraction outside the household.
Urban (1986) argues that native South American ceremonial dialogues are metacommuni-
cative in that they form a model of social action. Ceremonial dialogues occur in situations
where social solidarity i s at issue, "particularly in interactions where there i s maximal social
distance between the participants and consequently an ever-present possibility of conflict" (Ur-
ban 1986:2). "The trick among the Shuar-Achuar is to appear as agressive as possible while
simultaneously paying attention to how this display is affecting the other, endeavoring to
achieve a balance that results in coordination" (Urban 1986:31). The dialogues themselves
produce meaning beyond the referential value of the words spoken. They provide participants
with an opportunity to display personal power, aggressivity, knowledge, and skill, while at the
same time preventing open conflict by acknowledging the power of one's opponent. I would
add that, while a balance of power i s achieved and conflict i s prevented, the dialogues establish
inequalities in power in that the more skilled participant is recognized.
In summary, pre-Federation discourse on power and knowledge gives meaning to relations
of domination by affirming an ideology of individualism, personal power, and the fundamental

link between symbolic and technical knowledge in the acquisition of power. The beliefs sur-
rounding power and knowledge as expressed in this discourse produce an ideological structure
that provides the rationale allowing some individuals to influence the actions of others. Fur-
thermore, discourse on power and knowledge includes the notion that power and knowledge
obtained from foreign sources i s of greater value than that acquired from local sources. Since
access to power i s the most important component of the male role in Shuar society, Shuar men
constantly look for new means of obtaining power. Finally, the use of language intersects with
power in the form of linguistic social action. That is, in pre-Federation speech events, ideology
operates through language in the verbal interactions that establish relations of domination and
serve as a model of social integration based on autonomy and a balance of power.
Federation ideological discourse
The Federation's ideology of dependence and hierarchical order i s in sharp contrast to the
pre-Federation ideology of individual autonomy and balance of power. However, the Federa-
tion also gives a central place to knowledge and power in its ideology, though with altered
meanings. Models of situations related to concepts are built and updated by language users on
the basis of their knowledge of the world and their experiences, and these models provide the
referential basis for interpreting concepts (Van Dijk 1985). The altered meanings of power and
knowledge are not merely the definitions given by the Federation, nor do they constitute a false
ideology. They are the product of a complex process related to the experience of national ex-
pansion and economic domination, along with a recognition that these new meanings of power
and knowledge have more relevance for survival in the modern world.
Moreover, the life experiences of the interior Shuar are changing in such a way as to create
a climate in which the traditional relations of domination are being called into question. The
introduction of the Shuar Federation has presented the interior Shuar with a different image of
Shuar life. Federation leaders visit the centers, arriving in airplanes, wearing fine clothes, and
bringing gifts. Their wealth is not attributed to the personal power associated with vision quests
and shamanic knowledge, but to formal education and the ability to conduct business within
the national economy.' In the upper ranks of the Shuar Federation, the occupation of teacher
has become the principal means of achieving political power. All of the presidents of the Fed-
eration to date have been educated in mission schools and trained as teacher^.^ Their power is
derived from their position in the Federation hierarchy and their wealth is incontestable proof
of their power. For the interior Shuar, they present an alternate system of acquiring power,
distinct from the traditional methods and complete with an ideology that justifies the relations
of domination associated with it.
The knowledge that the Federation seeks to promote i s the knowledge associated with liter-
acy. The emergence of literate occupations, such as teacher, as power roles is an indication of
this change. In the interior, teachers exert some influence through their knowledge of the na-
tional society, but rarely do they acquire any degree of political status. One reason is that teach-
ers in these remote areas are often sent there by the Federation and are not part of the local
kinship network. Nevertheless, literacy is becoming a criterion for certain positions of authority
at the local level. Some centers will not elect officers who cannot read and write Spanish,
though this ability is not specifically necessary to carry out the tasks associated with the office.
Federation leaders claim that those who know Spanish are more capable of understanding and
explaining the need to organize. However, a more likely reason for electing such persons is
that because linguistic knowledge is recognized as an important means of acquiring power,
speaking Spanish signifies access to potential power resources other than the traditional ones.
The written word is respected as a symbol of a kind of knowledge that the Shuar associate
with white spheres of power. In contrast to the Yekuana, who have rejected the use of writing

as leading to a loss of power (Guss 19861, the interior Shuar accept literacy as a means of ac-
quiring a new kind of power. In comparing the power of a sindico with that of a shaman, the
Shuar say that elected leaders have power, but that their power comes from "the book," that
is, the statutes of the Federation, which is revered as the source of power from which leaders
obtain the right to give orders and enforce punishment. Asked if the sindico was elected be-
cause he i s powerful or if he i s powerful because he was elected, an informant replied, "Be-
cause he was elected, it is that. For getting power, he has a book. All the laws are there that he
can make. Yes, the sindico has power from the book. The shaman has power because he is a
shaman."
Notions of power have also been changed in Federation discourse. According to P@cheux
(19821, semantics cannot be separated from the sociohistorical conditions in which meaning
is produced. "Words, expressions, propositions, etc., change their meaning according to the
positions held by those who use them" (P6cheux 1982:1111. While the pre-Federation concept
of kakiram referred to the power possessed by an individual, acquired through such personal
activities as vision quests and dream interpretation, the Shuar Federation, in its belief in the
need to create unity among the Shuar and to persuade the people to work together for the com-
mon good, uses the term kakdram to mean the strength of the Shuar as a group, either locally
or as a people.
Federation radio messages and books are filled with such phrases as iruntrarik kakarmaitji
(only united are we strong). Furthermore, little mention i s made of the wars fought among the
Shuar, emphasizing instead the few instances in which the Shuar united to fight the Inca and
the Spanish. The following quotes from a textbook published by the Federation are illustrative
of the kinds of messages communicated by the Federation:
Our fathers lived together in peace. Only among unrelated groups were there motives for war [Federa-
cion de Centros Shuar 1979:921.
Many Shuar groups have relatives in other Shuar tribes. The Shuar do not feel as only isolated families
among themselves, but a people, a united people of brothers within the common country, Ecuador, and
within the great free land, America IFederacion de Centros Shuar 1979:94].
We the Shuar are united in the Federacinn de Centros, and each Centro is a truecooperative [Federation
de Centros Shuar 1979:200].
The last statement does not accurately reflect the reality of most centers. While the Federation
would like the centers to operate as true cooperatives, in no case do they do so. However, in
expressing the ideal the Federation hopes to persuade members of the centers to join cooper-
atives, thereby making the ideal become a reality. The model for the centers is the cattle co-
operative in which families own cattle jointly and contribute to the work equally. Many centers
have no cattle cooperative and those that do have achieved only partial membership. In one
center, for example, only 9 of the 16 household heads were members of the cooperative. The
others claimed that they did not benefit enough from the cooperative to make it worth the extra
work.
A more important reason perhaps derives from the basic individuality of the Shuar and his
desire to increase his personal power. Each man is the sole authority in his household and he
controls the economic activities of that household. To give his labor to a group effort would
mean relinquishing the power to control his economic interests, as the cooperatives make
group decisions concerning the expenditure of funds from the sale of cattle. If a man owns his
own cattle he can keep them or sell them at will, and he can use the money for those things
that will increase his personal power and prestige. Furthermore, Shuar men are not particularly
receptive to ideas of equality. A man prefers to take his chances with his own cattle in the hope
that he can increase his wealth in relation to others, rather than be an equal partner in a source
of wealth, which, by being divided equally, increases no one's prestige.
Justas the meaning of concepts such as kak6ram have been altered, the Federation has been
instrumental in altering the meanings of terms for powerful persons. There is no equivalent for

"authority" in Shuar, and the Spanish word, autoridad, i s frequently used when a Federation
leader refers to categories of elected leaders in general. However, when referring to specific
elected positions, such as presidente or sindico, speakers often use Shuar terms, particularly
uunt, though in many cases the officeholder is not old enough to have achieved this title in the
traditional way. By identifying elected authorities with traditional leadership roles, the Feder-
ation provides continuity with the pre-Federation political system. The use of labels associated
with traditional power encourages obedience to local leaders.
The category of uunt has become more diffuse as a result of the Federation's use of the term
to include all political authorities. Because language not only defines reality but i s constitutive
of it, shifts in the linguistic encoding of power categories affect the world of power relations as
they exist in Shuar centers. At the local level, the meaning of the categories of uunt and sindico
have each acquired some of the characteristics of the other. It seems that the people demand
that the sindico behave as an uunt, regardless of his age, and the uunt cannot hope to maintain
his position without some effort to accommodate his position to the realities of the centro struc-
ture.
A concept introduced by the Federation that is not part of the pre-Federation ideology is
"progress" or "advancement." Spanish-speakers use the terms progreso or adelanto, but these
terms have yet to be incorporated into the native language. Shuar who do not speak Spanish
say ekernkatin (to catch fire), wdkdtin (to climb) or eernkatin (to walk forward). Though con-
stantly promoted by the Federation, the idea of advancement is little understood by the interior
Shuar. When asked what they meant by advancement, most informants spoke of building an
airstrip, school buildings, an infirmary, or a soccer field. Asked why they needed these things
or what they would do with them, most repeated phrases from Federation speeches, for ex-
ample, "we must build schools to advance our center," or simply, "for progress." The actual
use of these trappings of civilization seemed to be secondary, except for the airstrip that allows
them access to towns for selling beef and buying Western goods. However, such evidence of
progress gives a center and its leaders prestige, regardless of whether the school has a teacher
or books and the infirmary a medical practitioner to take care of their health needs. Their pres-
tige i s increased by the Federation's public recognition of a center's progress on the radio, and
of course, the Federation hopes that eventually the presence of those infrastructural supports
will allow the centers to make changes of a more fundamental nature, including better edu-
cation and health care. The most successful effort to date has been the Federation's Escuela
Radiof6nica Shuar, which broadcasts lessons from Suc~jaby radio and requires only a mini-
mally trained teaching assistant to be present in the center to help the children.
However, the notion of progress is resisted by many of the elders, who hold to the traditional
ideology. The Shuar traditionally place little emphasis on the distant future in their worldview.
A man works throughout his life so that he will be a big man when he is old. Though he provides
for his children, he expects them to make their own way in the world, and he believes that their
time will come when they reach old age. The Federation tells the people to "prepare them-
selves" by educating their children. An older informant responded to this by saying, "What
about living now instead of always preparing for something else?" The elders resent the au-
thority achieved by young men who have no experience in life. Age and experience give the
elders the right to be in command, but the new emphasis on the future and progress deprives
them of that right.
New ideas concerning work are also being introduced by the Federation. The word takdstin
or takdkrnastin has the traditional meaning of "to do (something)" or "to work (something)" in
the transitive sense of "I worked the peanuts." The Western notion of work as an end in itself
or as having moral value apart from its product is not ordinarily part of the sense of this word
or the nature of Shuar economic activities. The interior Shuar rarely say "I'm going to work"
without specifying the activity planned, except in the context of the collective work of the cen-
ter's biweekly r n i n g a ~Such
. ~ work i s done not for the individual, but for the community, and

on the orders of the sindico at specified times. Although few of the interior Shuar have experi-
enced wage labor, this new sense of work is entering their vocabulary and consciousness
through the required collective work, which many regard as a form of exploitation by the Fed-
eration. Like the distinction between wage labor and work as a process of self-construction
described for the Tshidi by Comaroff and Comaroff (1 9871, the contrast between the traditional
Shuar notion of work and that presented in Federation discourse emerged out of the colonial
encounter, which demanded the entrance of the Shuar into the market economy and provided
the values and wants that would ensure their ties to it.
political oratory of two Shuar leaders
Pre-Federation discourse on power and knowledge articulates the traditional ideology, and
specific forms of speech provide the means for creating relations of power and demonstrating
their validity. In the same way, Federation discourse on power and knowledge is instrumental
in constructing a new social reality at the local level whose relations of domination are vali-
dated in the political oratory of public meetings. With the decline of traditional speech forms,
oratory has become the most common kind of speech event, and the oratory of tradition-ori-
ented and Federation-oriented leaders reflects the ideological conflict present in Shuar centers
today.
Decisions that were formerly made during informal visiting among heads of households are
now ostensibly made by a community vote in public meetings. Most decisions, however, are
still made in less formal settings, the vote being a mere formality or failing to take place at all.
Bloch states that public meetings in traditional societies "can be seen less as occasions for
making decisions about matters at hand than about ranking in the community" (1971 :55).
Shuar political speeches demonstrate the center's power hierarchy in who speaks and for how
long, and in the measure of attention given to a speaker by the audience, as well as by the form
and content of the speeches. Oratory also provides the means through which young men may
display their skills and enter the ranks of political leaders. Most important, Shuar oratory is the
linguistic means through which relations of domination are sustained by representing them as
legitimate.
The examples of oratory presented in this section are from speeches that occurred in a meet-
ing held in the centro Pampants' in 1983. One of the speakers, Chiriap', can be regarded as
tradition-oriented and the other, Warush, Federation-oriented, and as such they represent con-
flicting voices in the ideological competition taking place today in Shuar centers of the interior.
Warush was the president of the Putuim' association to which the center Pampants' belongs,
though he was not a member of the center's Directive Council. Like most elected leaders, he
has some formal education, acquired at one of the Salesian mission schools. He is influential
in the center in spite of being only distantly related to the principal family, and he has been
active in the Federation for many years. Chiriap' i s the headman of the principal family in Pam-
pants' and the founder of the center, and he is regarded as the owner of the land. He has no
formal education and speaks no Spanish, but he is considered to have substantial knowledge
of traditional laws and customs. He i s the son of an outstanding warrior and his family has been
a powerful influence in the region for generations.
Many of the issues addressed publicly are related to the transition from one political system
to another, and therefore reveal the corresponding conflict of ideologies present in the center.
However, both traditional and modern leaders tend to agree on the issues, at least publicly. In
the speeches from which I take my examples, the principal topic was the problem of nonpar-
ticipating members of the center, that is, members who refused to work in the rningas. Both
Warush and Chiriap' agreed that the offenders should be punished and made to participate in
the future. As each speaker agreed on how the issue should be resolved, his primary goal was

not to express an opinion that varied from those already expressed, but rather to make a state-
ment about himself. Oratory provides men with an opportunity to display their speaking skills
and to make claims to legitimacy. The competition between leaders is not expressed in disputes
over how the center should be run, but in claims about who should run it.
political oratory of tradition-oriented leaders In modern political oratory, tradition-ori-

ented leaders rarely make explicit references to kakdram, but a great deal of time is devoted to
evoking images of power. For example, leaders retain a style of speech in which the rhythm of
the speeches, produced by repetition and pause and stress patterns, calls to mind the aggres-
sivity of ceremonial dialogues, thereby evoking an image of the pre-Federation ideology of a
balance of power achieved through individual demonstrations of power. In one speech, Chi-
riap' uses the word paan' (clearly) 16 times, always to indicate his certainty of something, or
his truthfulness and directness, as in "I will know him clearly" and "I tell you clearly." This
reflects a pattern of speaking found in ceremonial dialogue and other ritual speech forms in
which redundancy is believed to contribute to the efficacy of the words. Repetition also creates
a rhythm in oratory, which adds to its aesthetic value and is appreciated by Shuar audiences.
In Chiriap's speeches, there are many examples like the following one in which the function of
repetition seems to be to create both a distinctive rhythm and emphasis.
Without saying it, and without saying that, Tutsuk, nusha tutsuk,
when you settle your problems well (say), chicharnka pi.nker iwiararn,
"Being thus, when I am sick, I am absent." junidkun, jaakun rnenkdajai
And this, "When I am sick, I am absent." lusha, "jaakun rnenkdajai.
And that, "When I am sick, I am absent." Nusha, "jaakun rnenkaajai.
And instead of saying that, Nusha t~ltsuk,
you continue only with much adversity. dya ti itiljrchatak weame.
Yes, you do so thus, yes. Ee, turarne ai, ee.
Chiriap's style i s forceful and can be seen as a display of power. He appeals to emotion,
particularly fear, and stresses that nothing happens in his center without his knowing it. He
asserts his natural right to be the headman by virtue of his possession of the qualities expected
in a traditional leader and his control of the land. He does not talk about the unity of the Shuar
in terms of Federation unity and he makes no references to white men, but speaks of behaving
according to Shuar tradition. He constantly claims that he only speaks the truth, that he knows
all, and that he is powerful. He demonstrates knowledge of mythology, cultural traditions, and
sorcery, as well as the kind of knowledge that comes from visionary experiences, as in the
following example.
Although doing thus, although he has bewitched me, I will know.
I will know him clearly, and what I say is not idle talk.
I will know him clearly.
Yes, I will know clearly, are there no sorcerers?
Are there many sorcerers like me?
One must know clearly.
Like the Federation leaders, Chiriap' insists that his people follow the rules of the center.
However, his speeches tend to focus on individual instances of disobedience to the rules. He
demands that offenders obey, not because they accept the Federation ideology, but because
he, as headman, demands their obedience. Two important criteria for traditional leadership are
old age and association with the land. The following reference to old age i s interesting in view
of the fact that Chiriap' was only 46 at the time of this speech. Three other men in Pampants',
each the head of their residential kin groups, were older than Chiriap'. Nevertheless, as head-
man, Chiriap' claimed old age as an indication of his knowledge, experience, and power.
Because I am the headman,
because I am bald and grey-haired,
when I advise you, I will tell you very clearly
I was here from antiquity.

The following passage, in which he tells an offender that he must obey, indicates that his
control over people is partly based on their fear of the consequences of disobeying him. It is
said of powerful men that when they are displeased or angry, their sweat can be the cause o f
suffering. This uncontrolled power is feared more than anything the headman might intention-
ally d o to them.
If you are angry at me like your women
you are one who will walk far crying
Truly, I say thus, that he will walk far crying
I don't lie, like someone who always lies,
If I sweat, if I sweat on that one,
he himself will walk only crying.
While many factors are involved i n the rise of a big man, control over land is vital t o his
success. Without land to give to his sons and sons-in-law, a man cannot demand that his off-
spring remain w i t h h i m and h e cannot b u i l d the network of political allies essential t o his status
as a big man. The importance of association with the land is brought out in his comments on
recent arrivals. H e reminds the audience that it is only with his permission that anyone is living
on his land, and that he expects them to work for him.
Those who laugh at people, these who are living here, like me,
although having come recently, they are recent arrivals.
Were these from here like me?
Truly, they are from very far away, these arrivals.
Having arrived from far away, these are gathered here.
When these arrivals from far away gather here,
they do the work.
O n e of the nonparticipants i n the center was heard to have said that h e d i d not have to go to
the center and work with the others. Chiriap' reports what the nonparticipant said and tells h i m
that if he doesn't want to be i n Pampants', he should leave. H e reminds everyone that all the
residents of Pampants' first came to h i m to ask for land
"I don't have to tread on Pampants',
I don't have to see Pampants',"
they say that.
And that, in what way will you not tread on it?
When we the shuar only say that of the center,
those shuar here who will not tread on it,
truly, why should you be here?
Truly then, for what reason perhaps did you come to me?
In another segment, Chiriap' responds to the rumor that a member of his center has been
absent from mingas because he is becoming a sorcerer i n secret. His response not only criticizes
the man for his behavior, but demonstrates Chiriap's knowledge of sorcery. Chiriap' addresses
him as Tepertur, a slightly derogatory nickname that implies laziness and sexual impotence.
"Doing thus he is absent, he is not sick from illness,"
i t i s said of you.
"He lies down, fasting and making himself blow,
he is a sorcerer," i t is said of you.
Then, make your self listen.
And then, "Because of doing that he is absent,"
it is said of you.
Then, "Because he is fasting in order to blow, he misses,"
you go thus.
He who drinks natern,
after we drink we are sorcerers also,
and they know you clearly, that he drinks with you.
Everyone knows you, that he drinks with you.
and they say of you, "He is a sorcerer."
Tepertur, if you think well in this time of old age,
how could one be becoming a sorcerer
and fasting in vain at this time?

Always they whisper about the sorcerer.
Is it good?
Now hiding themselves, making themselves drink n a t h ,
could one be becoming a sorcerer while hiding?
Now there are many very superior sorcerers.
As knowledge i s related to thinking and speaking correctly, that is, with a "good" or "strong"
heart, much attention i s given to helping children develop a strong heart, so that they will think
"straight" or correct thoughts. For example, the practice of giving children hallucinogenic
drugs is intended to increase their knowledge of the world of spirits so that they will acquire a
strong heart and the ability to think straight. If a child does not learn to think correctly while he
is young, then he will never behave well as an adult. In the following excerpt, Chiriap' ad-
dresses the same nonparticipant, stating that lying (incorrect speech) comes from a heart that
was not taught well in childhood.
"I will be good now, I will help," you say.
You are lying, I know you will never help.
We have always seen what has always been in your heart,
because you were raised badly as a child,
truly, in the future you will never behave.
In addition to demonstrating his traditional knowledge, Chiriap' points out his success in
dealing with problems in the past. Without formal means of enforcing obedience, success is
the only measure of a man's ability to exercise power. The reference to "pounding" might be
described as "haranguing," since Chiriap' means he has verbally pounded the offender until
he obeyed. The excerpt indicates Chiriap's superior ability to use speech as a means of social
control.
I spoke thus long ago to my friend,
"You are cursed," I said this.
Having done thus now,
having given him punishment to pardon him,
to pardon him many times,
now being all right, right now he helps.
I continue pounding him every moment
with this which one says so much,
because I am here.
Indeed, he also, after continuing to pound him every moment,
he also continues helping,
because of that which I said so often.
Long ago truly he was likewise, this one was the same.
I continue pounding him over and over still.
Chiriap' expresses complete confidence in his ability to control his people. He does not tell
people they should obey, but states that because he i s headman, they will obey.
Because I am here, when Tepertur is sick also,
when he comes after that, seeing clearly I will say,
"I, the headman, am here,"
and because I want them to listen,
I want them to come to work,
it is done.
Chiriap' does not attempt to persuade listeners that he is powerful, but says pujdjai, "I am."
The verbpujljstin means "to be" and "to be seated." In the contexts in which Chiriap' uses the
term, the latter meaning refers to his being seated on the chump;, the carved seat used only by
the head of a household, and in this case, the head of the community. In Shuar mythology,
Tsu~ki,the first shaman, used an Amazonian water turtle for a chumpi, and there is an asso-
ciation between the power of Tsufiki and the power of a man who has the right to sit on the
chumpi. Thus, when Chiriap' says amiktd, w i pujljn, "obey me because I am," he means that
he i s seated in a position of power, and there i s a connotation of ancient authority behind his
statement.

Chiriap' attempts to preserve his authority by appealing to those values already accepted
among the Shuar, but placing them in the context of the Federation structure and activities.
However, his approach to the center's problems i s different from that of Federation-oriented
leaders, and the pre-Federation ideology is manifested in his rhetorical style. Chiriap' uses a
rhetorical style that reflects the face-to-face kinds of encounters predominant in pre-Federation
politics, though the content often has to do with problems of the modern center. Also, the sanc-
tions he threatens for disobedience, such as expulsion from the land and supernatural reprisals,
are those associated with powerful uunts and an ideology based on power and knowledge. In
pre-Federation ideology, the people are obligated to obey a leader because of his personal
power, not because of his position within a system of laws and authorities outside his territory.
However, it is significant that what Chiriap' is demanding is that his people obey the Federa-
tion's rules.
political oratory of Federation-oriented leaders Ideological transformation among the

Shuar is implemented, in part, through the political oratory of Federation leaders. One of the
ways ideology works to sustain relations of domination i s by representing them as legitimate.
As the discussion of Federation ideological discourse suggests, the people of centers in the in-
terior have not entirely accepted the Federation's ideas. Therefore, in Warush's speeches, a
great deal of time is devoted to making claims to legitimacy both for himself and for the political
system on which his position is based.
The competition between ideologies is manifested in the rhetorical styles of the speakers. Just
as Chiriap' evokes images of personal power, Warush stresses collective power and evokes an
image of a new political order in which authority i s legitimized by the legal institutions estab-
lished. His style lacks aggressivity and overt displays of power, and he relies far more on the
content of his speeches to persuade his audience than on his ability to arouse their emotions.
He uses instruction to convince people to obey him, appealing to the validity of the Federation
and its laws. His speech style i s legalistic and impersonal because the ideology that it invokes
values rules and procedures. That is, the style itself conveys the substance of the ideology.
However, in addressing audiences in the interior, Warush cannot ignore the traditional val-
ues and beliefs associated with leadership. Although he speaks of laws and rules that are a part
of the ideology he wants them to accept, he repeatedly reminds the audience that he is Shuar
and as such finds those rules difficult to follow.
The speaker who employs Spanish phrases or Ecuadorian speech styles is claiming knowl-
edge of the outside world and its system of dominance. However, there is considerable ambiv-
alence toward their use of Spanish. When elected leaders use Spanish in speeches, they must
explain its use to an audience in which only the young men understand the language. Spanish
words are usually followed by the phrase, apdtchamj6inkia (in the white man's language), then
the idea i s repeated in Shuar. The only reason for a Shuar speaker to use Spanish with such an
audience is to demonstrate his knowledge of the language, an ability valued in elected officials,
though viewed with some suspicion. The Shuar suspect that Spanish speakers have become
more white than Shuar and that they might be insulting them. In this speech, Warush explains
to the audience that he is not insulting them when he calls them "seriores," and states that he
does not say anything against them when speaking Spanish.
With all respect I have said in the white man's language,
"You are all sehores,"
I respect sefiores and sefioras, sefioritas, damas, or even more.
Being so, although we are authorities,
even I could not do such a thing to you,
and with all respect I say, "sefiores."
Never do I say anything bad to you in the white mans's language
Similarly, he points out that contact with Western culture has not changed the way he views
social relationships. He frequently reminds the audience that he too is Shuar and he thinks as

they do. In the following excerpt, Warush explains that kinship should not be a factor in electing
officials and that even if one's brother-in-law, an important political ally traditionally, were
elected, he could not treat his kin in a preferential way. This alien idea i s followed by a com-
ment that such a system i s just as difficult for him as it i s for them. Thus, Warush has instructed
them in how they should behave to implement the Federation political system, while claiming
that his personal beliefs have not changed.
Among the authorities there are no brothers-in-law,
If your brother-in-law were the teniente politico right now,
he being one who is experienced,
you could go to your brother-in-law,
and because he is your brother-in-law,
going to him for some offense,
he says, "Are you not my brother-in-law?"
just sending you home, settling the problem.
Being thus, are we the shuar not always like that?
And you all see that I too am the same as you,
everyone, my daughters, sisters, nieces.
As an elected leader, Warush's legitimacy depends, in part, on his knowledge of white

spheres of power. Because the Shuar value foreignness and believe that power can be gained
from foreign sources, men who have traveled are often elected to positions of authority. Oratory
provides an opportunity to demonstrate the speaker's knowledge of the world. For example,
Warush describes the system of land distribution among the colonists.
The colonists also say, "It is not only you who is hungry,
there are other people who also need to get land," saying.
Those colonists who are thus,
they don't give permission to anyone who has land,
having fifty hectares.
When people go further away to get other lands,
they absolutely will not give them permission.
He also claims a personal relationship with white authorities, who are recognized as pow-
erful. In the following passage, he warns that the laws of the Federation will be enforced by
Ecuadorian officials if the Shuar fail to obey. The mention of the letter serves not only to indicate
Warush's personal contact with powerful men, but also demonstrates his ability to read and his
possession of written documents.
That which is so, although he is a brave man, he has to obey.
"If he is good he will obey,
but truly, if he does not obey, send him to the office (to jail)."
He says it right here.
The teniente politico told me that when he sent me a letter.
"There you all are, the united shuar,
when there are problems, even bad problems,
deal with them well among yourselves.
But he who does not comply with what is said, with these words
'let's be well, settling the problems,'
he who is lazy, who makes trouble,
that one send here to the office and send me a letter.
Because he does thus, I will make him obey here."
Thus the teniente politico wrote me in a letter.
Although the relations of domination introduced by the Federation may not please many of
the Shuar, they would rather be governed by their own leaders than be dominated by white
men. One of the means Federation leaders use to persuade the people to accept an ideology
that sustains a hierarchical authority structure i s to threaten them with what life would be like
under white domination. Warush tells them that things would be worse if they had no author-
ities and were ruled instead by the white authorities.
We being thus, because the sindico is good,
because the sindico loves his people,

and his people, because he says, "Let's be united well,''
he doesn't do anything to you,
he doesn't give you punishment.
What are they doing to you? What?
Truly, it is not like being in jail, only kicking,
giving punishment, making j.ou sleep without eating.
Do they do that?
As might be expected, Shuar attitudes toward white men are ambivalent. The Shuar recog-
nize the superior power and wealth of whites, but disapprove of their behavior. The root of
their misconduct i s their inability to "see" properly. That is, they lack the spiritual power ac-
quired through dreams, vision quests, and hallucinogen-induced trance that allows men to see
reality and thereby behave properly. In the following excerpt, Warush speaks of the teniente
politico as one might speak of an unruly child. Unable to "see anything," he simply speaks in
whatever manner he wishes and gives orders that only satisfy his selfish greed. Again, Warush
is demonstrating his knowledge of white men, while at the same time expressing his disap-
proval of them. The implication is that the Shuar must avoid becoming dominated by white
authorities, and, of course, the only way of doing that i s to accept the Federation and its au-
thorities.
And the teniente politico,
that one doesn't understand anything concerning the shuar,
he behaves this way because he doesn't see anything.
They all go around saying whatever they want,
talking only of fines, just ordering fines,
they do thus, just giving orders and taking money,
the teniente who is there now is like that.
In the following example, Warush is careful to point out that he himself does not speak as a
white man, with only his own interests at heart. He i s also claiming that although the Federation
i s patterned after the white authority system, it is superior because Shuar authorities represent
the interests of all the Shuar. This is a very different view of politics in that pre-Federation lead-
ers spoke and acted primarily in the interest of increasing their own power.
It is not that,
that among the shuar in the name of the assembly,
he alone walks saying thus,
"In my opinion, in my own interest, mine alone."
He who is speaking,
does not make that failing like the white men.
The Federation's interest is in securing the support of the more than 30,000 Shuar people,
and to this end, its officials promote an ideology that justifies the relations of domination present
in the organization's political structure. Thus, leaders speak of kak6rarn in terms of supporting
the hierarchical political structure. The Federation's emphasis is on collective strength rather
than individual strength, and leaders at all levels of the Federation include in their speeches
references to working together in order to become strong. Phrases such as kakararn ajdsar'
(making ourselves strong) or kakartai (let's strengthen ourselves) are common in Shuar political
oratory. For example, Warush said,
It is that, working together with the president,
it is that which makes us strong.
One must be strengthened together, fathers.
The following excerpt advises the people that they must consult the teachers about their chil-
dren's education and that they must push their children to do better. The last lines state that
failure to do these things will make the Shuar weak. Warush thus relates the notion of progress
through education to ideas of strength and weakness.
So being, one has to push our children,
although our children do not know,

when the teacher is in the house, say, "Is he all right?"
"He goes all right," (he says)
One must continue to push our children.
Brothers, we do not do that.
Doing thus, although we want to educate our children
we make ourselves weak.
Being thus, brothers, I tell you all that.
The following passage indicates that Federation leaders have incorporated into their ideology
the idea of work as a means of acquiring power, and that they regard it as necessary to protect
the Shuar from further advances of Ecuadorian colonists. The same passage again expresses an
ideology of group unity, which is shared by other indigenous groups in their efforts to resist
nonindigenous intervention in their lives."'
We are all Shuar.
We are strong and courageous like our grandfathers.
But we can no longer say "I am strong and don't need anyone else.
I don't need the centres."
Now we have to be strong together,
we have to work together.
The colonists will take our land if we don't work for it.
For the transition to a Western style of politics to be effective, some Shuar traditions must be
abandoned, particularly their isolation and violence. Nearly all Shuar political speeches deal
in some way with the problems created by the Shuar tendency to prefer isolation and to solve
problems by violent means. Warush explains that the Federation i s for the benefit of the people,
that when the Shuar don't have authorities to help settle their problems, they kill each other.
And so doing, when you all behave this way,
you all will kill people.
Therefore, only the shuar, truly, we ourselves,
if we do that, if we don't visit,
if we never see each other,
we would transform ourselves into something else.
And who is going to settle that for you?
Then, what I say is for us the shuar, it is not for the colonists
And thus, we (the authorities) are elected for that,
so that one doesn't do that.
This passage also refers to the importance of visiting one another in order to avoid hostilities.
Strangers are not trusted and even close kin must visit regularly to avoid suspicion. A kinsman
who stays away for long periods of time is suspected of harboring some grudge and perhaps
intending to do some harm. In most Shuar centers, there are some families who are only dis-
tantly related to the others, and, therefore, the seeds of suspicion are always present. In Pam-
pants', for example, all of the families are related to Chiriap, either directly or by marriage, but
they are not all closely related to each other. The Federation, through its officers, encourages
participation in community activities as much to quiet suspicion among a center's residents as
to achieve the goals of the center. In the following passage, Warush explicitly states that the
traditional individualism of the Shuar, keeping them separated from one another, leads to an-
ger.
Being thus, we the people do thus among each other,
truly we say that when he who goes about saying, "I am apart,"
then we begin to get angry.
To summarize, Warush's speeches instruct the audience in how the Federation system works,
warns them of the kind of life they would lead under white domination, and suggests that such
a life can be avoided only by accepting the Federation, its rules, its leaders, and ultimately its
ideology. Warush presents himself as one who knows a great deal about the outside world. He
speaks Spanish, knows the white man's rules, and has contacts with white authorities. How-
ever, throughout his speeches his demonstrations of knowledge of the outside world are ac-

companied by comments that show his disapproval of the white man's ways and his loyalty to
Shuar ways. Only in reference to the Shuar tendencies toward isolation and violence does he
clearly reject Shuar traditions. He suggests that he i s truly Shuar, with the same beliefs and
attitudes as his audience, but that his knowledge of the outside world has taught him that they
must accommodate themselves to that world.
The image of tradition the Federation i s constructing in its efforts to win the acceptance of
the interior Shuar is one of Shuar unity and the collective power of the group. Warush has no
illusions about Shuar unity, though he promotes it in his speeches. Unlike the Federation lead-
ers in Sucua, however, he does not say that the Shuar have always been united, but tries to
show that unity is possible and necessary. The Shuar have always rallied against their enemies.
The new enemy is the colonist and the means of conquering him is to form a political system
like his. Warush's speeches acknowledge the struggle against isolation and suspicion that must
take place for the Shuar to survive. He tells the people that they must change, and the Federa-
tion offers a kind of change that they can accept without losing their identity.
The pre-Federation ideology is still valid in the interior and Chiriap' need only claim his place
within that political system. Warush, however, concentrates on claiming legitimacy for the Fed-
eration system and its ideology, which are not fully accepted and on which his authority de-
pends. Chiriap' has no need to validate the ideology that supports his position, since that ide-
ology is based on the supremacy of anyone who can acquire sufficient power to become a
leader. If the people accept his legitimacy, they have accepted the ideology. Warush, on the
other hand, has no authority unless the people accept the hierarchy on which his position rests.
If he cannot teach them the new political system and convince them of its validity, the office
of president is meaningless.
conclusions
If one looks at the Shuar today, noting only the observable changes in political structure, one
fails to see that the present system is in many ways quite consistent with the Shuar view of power
relations. Even in a society undergoing significant changes in social organization, there must
be enough continuity so as to allow people a sense of shared meanings according to which
actions can be interpreted. Sahlins (1981) argues that sociohistorical change occurs through
changes of meaning of existing relations. People act according to cultural presuppositions, in
this case the necessity of acquiring power and the importance of language use in creating and
legitimizing relations of power. As circumstances have changed for the Shuar, new means of
acquiring power and new forms of speech used in creating and validating relations of domi-
nation have contributed to the acceptance of the Federation and its ideology.
The Shuar Federation uses the past in constructing its ideology through its use of pre-Feder-
ation concepts in political oratory, providing a continuity with the past that lends legitimacy to
the speakers and their messages. Fowler argues that, as "a reality-creating social practice,"
language is "an instrument of consolidating and manipulating concepts and relationships in
the area of power and control" (1985:61-62). By continuously articulating its ideology, the
Federation helps create a new reality for the Shuar people, one that includes the relations of
domination contained in its institutional structure and that attempts to create unity among the
traditionally distrustful and divided Shuar people.
However, the Federation probably would have had little success if the pre-Federation ide-
ology had not contained a predisposition to accept change in its preference for non-Shuar
sources of power and knowledge. Corresponding to the value placed on foreignness, knowl-
edge of white spheres of power has become important. The cultural emphasis on the acquisi-
tion of power and knowledge has not lessened in spite of the radical sociopolitical change
occurring among the Shuar, but the search for power has taken new forms, particularly through

Federation offices, the accumulation of wealth, and knowledge of Western technology. The
need for power is as strong today as it was in the past, because the world is still full of malev-
olent beings, which seek to harm a man's family, and he must still protect himself from sorcerers
and other enemies. In addition, the advance of the market economy and national political con-
trol over the Shuar territory poses a threat to his well-being and he must be powerful to resist
its dangers. Aware that the power of the whites allows them to dominate weaker peoples, the
Shuar believe that they must acquire the appropriate knowledge of white spheres of power in
order to compete successfully in a world dominated by the whites. To that end, they are willing
to imitate the symbols of white society such as its political institutions, and to adopt some as-
pects of Western ideology that they believe are associated with white knowledge and power.
notes
Acknowledgments. This paper was originally read at the American Ethnological Society meeting in May
1987. The paper is based on fieldwork in southeastern Ecuador from August 1982 to August 1984, sup-
ported by a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship and a grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological
Research. Subsequent text analysis was supported by a Fellowship from the University of Texas at Austin.
'The Federation defines a Shuar centro as a nucleated settlement of individuals living and working to-
gether for the purpose of advancing the economic, educational, and moral conditions of the group (Fed-
eracion de Centros Shuar 1974). Most centers, however, are only partially nucleated, tending to consist of
dispersed households as in traditional neighborhoods. Also, there are a number of different types of centers
differentiated by how and by whom they were created, how their boundaries were defined, and their size
and internal social relations. The most salient characteristics of all Shuar centers are that they are legally
constituted members of the Federation and that they regularly elect a Directive Council.
'The first centers were established to fight colonization by forming sedentary communities that could
petition the government for legal land titles. However, titles were given to individuals with the result that
many Shuar sold their land to colonists, unaware of the long-term consequences of such actions. The Fed-
eration's solution was to seek global titles in which all members of the community owned the land and no
one could sell it without the consent of the community, which could in no case sell it to colonists. The land
is divided among the center's families, reserving a communal zone for hunting and cooperative pastures.
3The presence in these centers of an emerging ideology that combines elements of pre-Federation and
Federation ideologies is discussed elsewhere (Hendricks 1986).
4A distinction must be made between what is being represented today as traditional and those things
that were historically part of the Shuar culture. To facilitate this distinction, I will refer to the Shuar of the
historical past, before the foundation of the Shuar Federation, as "pre-Federation Shuar," while "tradition"
will refer to something that exists in the present that is perceived as having to do with pre-Federation Shuar
or that is represented as such.
;Although the distinction is useful for analytical purposes, the Jivaroan peoples generally do not express
a separation between technical and symbolic knowledge. Brown (1986) argues that magic (symbolic con-
trol) and technology are inseparable aspects of the Aguaruna view of human agency. Similarly, the Achuar
regard technical mastery to be rooted in symbolic mastery in all production (Taylor 1981 :671). However,
among older Shuar men in colonized regions, where acquisition of power through visionary experience
has declined significantly, the inability of elected leaders to carry out their goals is often attributed to their
lack of genuine power due to their possession of technical knowledge without the necessary symbolic
knowledge related to supernatural control.
61nthis paper, I occasionally use examples from Aguaruna and Achuar cultures. These Jivaroan groups,
though slightly different linguistically, are very similar culturally to the Shuar. Their myths are almost iden-
tical, exhibiting no more variation than is found regionally among Shuar groups, and the role played by
mythological characters such as Etsa, Nuckui, and Tsunki in the system of cultural beliefs is the same.
'In conformity with traditional ideology, the Achuar believe that the wealth of whites is produced by
specialists who have a privileged relation to the supernatural that enables them to make Western goods
(Taylor 1981:671). However, the interior Shuar do not seem to believe that the Federation leaders have
acquired superior techniques of supernatural control, but have gained access to those goods through ac-
quiring Western forms of knowledge and through imitation of the symbolic practices observed in Western
religious and political institutions.
Wowever, a return to traditional forms of knowledge is evident in recent years. A number of recent
officers of the Federation are shamans as well as teachers, and there seems to be a general trend among
educated Shuar in the colonized areas toward acquiring competence in more traditional spheres of knowl-
edge.
'The word minga is an Andean indigenous term which refers to "goal-oriented collective action" (Whit-
ten 1985:95).

'"For example, Whitten (1978) has noted that Canelos Quichua shamans no longer fight against each
other and against other indigenous shamans, but against outsiders who threaten the group's survival and
identity.
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submitted 27 April 1987

revised version submitted 17 September 1987
accepted 19 October 1987

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Janet Wall Hendricks
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Ecological Imagery and Cultural Adaptability: The Canelos Quichua of Eastern Ecuador
Norman E. Whitten, Jr.
American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 80, No. 4. (Dec., 1978), pp. 836-859.
Stable URL:
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References Cited
The Madman and the Migrant: Work and Labor in the Historical Consciousness of a South
African People
Jean Comaroff; John L. Comaroff
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Keeping It Oral: A Yekuana Ethnology

David M. Guss
American Ethnologist, Vol. 13, No. 3. (Aug., 1986), pp. 413-429.
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Some Distinctions in Universal Pragmatics: A Working Paper

Jürgen Habermas
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Ceremonial Dialogues in South America

Greg Urban
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Ecological Imagery and Cultural Adaptability: The Canelos Quichua of Eastern Ecuador
Norman E. Whitten, Jr.
American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 80, No. 4. (Dec., 1978), pp. 836-859.
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Power and Knowledge: Discourse and Ideological Transformation among the

Janet Wall Hendricks

American Ethnologist, Vol. 15, No. 2. (May, 1988), pp. 216-238.

American Ethnologist is currently published by American Anthropological Association.

JANET WALL HENDRICKS-University of Texas at Austin

216 american ethnologist

power and knowledge among the Shuar 217

218 american ethnologist

power and knowledge among the Shuar 219

220 american ethnologist

Power i s achieved through a combination of the knowledge of the techniques of symbolic

power and knowledge among the Shuar 221

I bring the powerful darts

of the white shamans.

when I enter into trance among darts

I bring the most ferocious

being a Napo shaman

I bring my magical darts from the Napo.

222 arnerican ethnologist

power and knowledge among the Shuar 223

Federation ideological discourse

224 american ethnologist

power and knowledge among the Shuar 225

226 american ethnologist

political oratory of two Shuar leaders

power and knowledge among the Shuar 227

political oratory of tradition-oriented leaders In modern political oratory, tradition-ori-

"Being thus, when I am sick, I am absent." junidkun, jaakun rnenkdajai

And this, "When I am sick, I am absent." lusha, "jaakun rnenkdajai.

And that, "When I am sick, I am absent." Nusha, "jaakun rnenkaajai.

And instead of saying that, Nusha t~ltsuk,

you continue only with much adversity. dya ti itiljrchatak weame.

Yes, you do so thus, yes. Ee, turarne ai, ee.

228 american ethnologist

power and knowledge among the Shuar 229

Now hiding themselves, making themselves drink n a t h ,

could one be becoming a sorcerer while hiding?

Now there are many very superior sorcerers.

You are lying, I know you will never help.

We have always seen what has always been in your heart,

because you were raised badly as a child,

truly, in the future you will never behave.

"You are cursed," I said this.

Having done thus now,

having given him punishment to pardon him,

to pardon him many times,

now being all right, right now he helps.

I continue pounding him every moment

with this which one says so much,

Indeed, he also, after continuing to pound him every moment,

he also continues helping,

because of that which I said so often.

I continue pounding him over and over still.

230 american ethnologist

political oratory of Federation-oriented leaders Ideological transformation among the

power and knowledge among the Shuar 231

As an elected leader, Warush's legitimacy depends, in part, on his knowledge of white

232 arnerican ethnologist

although our children do not know,

power and knowledge among the Shuar 233

We are strong and courageous like our grandfathers.

I don't need the centres."

Now we have to be strong together,