Ethnoecology, Resource Use, Conservation And Development In A ...

another villager employing a magical technique based upon the use of the pelt of a
male spider monkey. The term kanaima was often employed to refer to dangerous
spirits residing in forest and savannah with no apparent connection to living humans.
It may be that they are connected in some way with the deceased since many people
when speaking in English used the term interchangeably with 'jumbie', a Creole term
apparently more or less identical in meaning to the more familiar term 'ghost', which I
heard explicitly applied to the spirits of dead people. One such kanaima resides on a
depopulated area of savannah in Maruranau Reservation, and is reported to have killed
all the people who formerly resided in that area. Kanaima seems to be considered the
root cause of most, if not all, deaths (also see Baldwin 1946: 51; Foster 1990: 171-
174). Medical explanations are accepted, but kanaima is considered to be the
ultimate cause of conditions such as cancer, for example. Unsurprisingly, accusations
of kanaima activities are among the most grievous insults imaginable, and their
occurrence is a sign of considerable social tension.
Traditional healing is concerned with dispelling the spiritual causes of illness via
application of remedies of plant, or less commonly animal, origin, and other
therapeutic techniques such as blowing, massage, and the use of various forms of
incense. The most commonly used incense is marou aiba, the sap of the tree
marou, or haiawa (Protium sp.). This is burnt one or more times a day when any
member of the household is affected by an illness, and often as a precautionary
measure in households with young children; its smoke may also be used for more
intensive treatments. It efficacy depends upon its ability, to dispel evil spirits, a
process called shunaribai or shandan. Several other incenses share this property,
including that of locust (Hymenaea oblongata); one informant told me that the skin
of the niinito (possibly Galictis vittata) may be burnt for the same reason. Some
exotic plants, including lime and garlic, may also be used for this purpose.
The practice of 'blowing' among the Akawaio has been described with greater
detail than I am able to provide for the Wapishana (Butt 1956), but such information
as I have is consistent with that account. The combination of breathing in a particular
fashion and giving a spoken invocation is thought to be efficacious in a variety of
circumstances, from illnesses such as muscular pains, cuts and snake bite to more
serious spiritual attacks. Blowing for healing purposes is often combined with other of
the medical techniques mentioned: it may, for example, increase the efficacy of
herbal or patent remedies. Bathing in blown water is employed as a prophylactic
measure for people particularly vulnerable to spiritual attack, such as young babies
and relatives of a recently deceased person. Blowing may also be employed for