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The falling sky : words of a Yanomami shaman / Davi Kopenawa, Bruce Albert ; translated by Nicholas Elliott and Alison Dundy

Author
Kopenawa, Davi
Uniform Title
Chute du ciel. English
Published
Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2013.
Physical Description
1 online resource (xvi, 622 pages, 4 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations, maps
Additional Creators
Albert, Bruce, 1952-, Elliott, Nicholas, 1949-, and Dundy, Alison
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Language Note
In English.
Contents
Foreword / Jean Malaurie -- Maps -- I. Becoming other. Drawn words ; First shaman ; Xapiri's gaze ; Animal ancestors ; Initiation ; Spirits' houses ; Image and skin ; Sky and the forest -- II. Metal smoke. Outsider images ; First contacts ; Mission ; Becoming a white man? ; Road ; Dreaming the forest ; Earth eaters ; Cannibal gold -- III. The falling sky. Talking to white people ; Stone houses ; Merchandise love ; In the city ; From one war to another ; Flowers of dream ; Spirit of the forest ; Shamans' death -- Words of Omama -- How this book was written -- Appendix A. Ethnonym, language, and orthography -- Appendix B. The Yanomami in Brazil -- Appendix C. Watoriki -- Appendix D. The Haximu Massacre.
Summary
Anthropologist Bruce Albert captures the poetic voice of Davi Kopenawa, shaman and spokesman for the Yanomami of the Brazilian Amazon, in this unique reading experience--a coming-of-age story, historical account, and shamanic philosophy, but most of all an impassioned plea to respect native rights and preserve the Amazon rainforest.
"The Falling Sky is a remarkable first-person account of the life story and cosmoecological thought of Davi Kopenawa, shaman and spokesman for the Yanomami of the Brazilian Amazon. Representing a people whose very existence is in jeopardy, Davi Kopenawa paints an unforgettable picture of Yanomami culture, past and present, in the heart of the rain forest--a world where ancient Indigenous knowledge and shamanic traditions cope with the global geopolitics of an insatiable natural resources extraction industry. In richly evocative language, Kopenawa recounts his initiation and experience as a shaman, as well as his first encounters with outsiders: government officials, missionaries, road workers, cattle ranchers, and gold prospectors. He vividly describes the ensuing cultural repression, environmental devastation, and deaths resulting from epidemics and violence. To counter these threats, Davi Kopenawa became a global ambassador for his endangered people. The Falling Sky follows him from his native village in the Northern Amazon to Brazilian cities and finally on transatlantic flights bound for European and American capitals. These travels constitute a shamanic critique of Western industrial society, whose endless material greed, mass violence, and ecological blindness contrast sharply with Yanomami cultural values." -- Publisher's description.
Subject(s)
Genre(s)
ISBN
9780674726116 (electronic bk.)
0674726111 (electronic bk.)
9780674724686 (alk. paper)
0674724682 (alk. paper)
9780674293571 (electronic bk.)
0674293576 (electronic bk.)
Note
Translation of: La chute du ciel : paroles d'un chaman yanomami. ©2010.
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 595-607) and index.
View MARC record | catkey: 43131288