Rage, Revenge, and Religion: Honest s ignaling of aggression and non-aggression in Waorani coalitional violence

1. Rage, Revenge, and Religion:Honest signaling of aggression and non-aggression in Waorani coalitional violence James S. Boster University of Connecticut James A. Yost Latigo Ranch Catherine Peeke Summer Institute of Linguistics

2. Edæ Wewa idonatapa Awa ingante, Ima toniyaka. Tænongimpa ante godanitapa Ima, Nænkemo, Awañetæ, Toka, Gæwa, Waiwa, Æwæmæ, Boya. Ayæ wænonanitapa Wadeka, Eniwa, Bainka, Ñamæ, Detæ, Epanai, Wewa inanite. Wantæpiyæ kewente ate Boya ingante idongampa ante. Ononke babæ ananitapa. Æwæmæ tono idongampa, Mænkai inte, Omaka we. Inkæte Boyotai wænongantapa Boya ingante. Æwæmæ we womongantapa Æwæmæ tænonga.

3. One time, Wewa bewitched Awa, the brother of Ima. Let us spear them, they said. Ima, Nænkimo, Awañetæ, Toka, Gæwa, Waiwa, Æwæmæ, and Boya went. They killed Wadeka, Eniwa, Bainka, Ñamæ, Detæ, Epanai, and Wewa. Time passed. They said Boya and Æwæmæ bewitched Mænkai, the daughter of Omaka. Then her brother Boyotai killed Boya. Æwæmæ escaped wounded.

4. Wao warfare histories

5. Wao warfare histories • Until recent contact, the Waorani of eastern Ecuador engaged in a vicious cycle of revenge killing in which men responded to the death of kin by attacking their enemies.

6. Wao warfare histories • Until recent contact, the Waorani of eastern Ecuador engaged in a vicious cycle of revenge killing in which men responded to the death of kin by attacking their enemies. • Wao oral history is filled with tales of these cycles of violence.

7. Wao warfare histories • Yet their language, Wao tededo, lacks labels for the concepts of ‘revenge killing’ or ‘murder,’ referring to both simply as “wængantapa” [killed] or “tænongantapa” [speared].

8. Wao warfare histories • Retaliation can be indicated by • simple juxtaposition (e.g., “Wewa bewitched Awa, we killed Wewa.”)

9. Wao warfare histories • Retaliation can be indicated by • simple juxtaposition (e.g., “Wewa bewitched Awa, we killed Wewa.”) • the term beyæ [on behalf of] (e.g., “We killed Wewa on behalf of Awa.”)

10. Wao warfare histories • Retaliation can be indicated by • simple juxtaposition (e.g., “Wewa bewitched Awa, we killed Wewa.”) • the term beyæ [on behalf of] (e.g., “We killed Wewa on behalf of Awa.”) • addition of the suffix wo [to pass on] to the verb teno [spear] (e.g., “I passed on spearing.”

11. Puzzle • Apparently, a social pattern of revenge killing is not dependent on the recognition of “revenge” as an abstract category.

12. Puzzle • Apparently, a social pattern of revenge killing is not dependent on the recognition of “revenge” as an abstract category. • Revenge need not be an overt cultural construction to be acted upon.

13. Overview

14. Overview • Ethnographic setting

15. Overview • Ethnographic setting • Wao ethnopsychology

16. Overview • Ethnographic setting • Wao ethnopsychology • Emotions as signals of social commitments (Frank).

17. Overview • Ethnographic setting • Wao ethnopsychology • Emotions as signals of social commitments (Frank). • Feuds and alliances.

18. Overview • Ethnographic setting • Wao ethnopsychology • Emotions as signals of social commitments (Frank). • Feuds and alliances. • Religion as a means to convey an honest commitment to end feuding.

19. Ethnographic setting

20. Location

21. Environment Environment

22. Subsistence

23. Settlement Pattern

24. Marriage

25. Travel

26. Coalitional Violence

27. Wao ethnopsychology

28. Wao ethnopsychology • Few complex concepts in Wao ethnopsychology are given a unitary label.

29. Wao ethnopsychology • Few complex concepts in Wao ethnopsychology are given a unitary label. • aggressiveness: • nangui piinte kæte kewengakaimpa [“he who lives acting angrily”]

30. Wao ethnopsychology • Few complex concepts in Wao ethnopsychology are given a unitary label. • aggressiveness: • nangui piinte kæte kewengakaimpa [“he who lives acting angrily”] • sociability or generosity • wadani beyæ nangui waa kæte kewengakaimpa [“he who lives doing good things for others”]

31. Wao ethnopsychology • “Vengeance is mine; I will repay” (Romans 12:19)

32. Wao ethnopsychology • “Vengeance is mine; I will repay” (Romans 12:19) • “Wënæ wënæ cædäni adinque botö wënæ wënae näni cædïnö beyæ ante në apænte panguënëmo inte tömëmo eyepæ wæætë godö cæbo wæcædänimpa.”

33. Wao ethnopsychology • “Vengeance is mine; I will repay” (Romans 12:19) • [Their having done badly, because they continually do bad, it is I, myself, who will judge and punish them. It’s enough that I do it on your behalf and they suffer.]

34. Wao ethnopsychology • Absence of terms like this not surprising.

35. Wao ethnopsychology • Absence of terms like this not surprising. • Boas: Eskimo words for snow.

36. Wao ethnopsychology • “It seems fairly evident that the selection of such simple terms must to a certain extentdepend upon the chief interests of a people;and where it is necessary to distinguish a certain phenomenon in many aspects, which in the life of the people play each an entirely independent role, many independent words may develop, while in other cases modifications of a single term may suffice.” Boas, 1911 [1965]:191-192

37. Wao ethnopsychology • “It seems fairly evident that the selection of such simple terms must to a certain extent depend upon the chief interests of a people; and where it is necessary to distinguish a certain phenomenon in many aspects, which in the life of the people play each an entirely independent role, many independent words may develop, while in other cases modifications of a single term may suffice.” Boas, 1911 [1965]:191-192

38. Wao ethnopsychology • Difficult to elicit detailed psychological explanations for killings (or anything else).

39. Wao ethnopsychology • Difficult to elicit detailed psychological explanations for killings (or anything else). • the most typical explanation is ængi bate inga [“he became enraged”] and further elaboration is refused.

40. Wao ethnopsychology • Difficult to elicit detailed psychological explanations for killings (or anything else). • the most typical explanation is ængi bate inga [“he became enraged”] and further elaboration is refused. • Perhaps the reason this is a sufficient explanation is that all understand the core relational schema that anger invokes.

41. Core relational themes of emotion

42. Core relational themes of emotion • Fear: ankai giñente

43. Core relational themes of emotion • Fear: ankai giñente • “Facing an immediate, concrete, and over-whelming physical danger.” (Lazarus, 1991)

44. Core relational themes of emotion • Fear: ankai giñente • “Facing an immediate, concrete, and over-whelming physical danger.” (Lazarus, 1991) • [seeing a jaguar in the forest]

45. Core relational themes of emotion • Fear: ankai giñente • “Facing an immediate, concrete, and over-whelming physical danger.” (Lazarus, 1991) • [seeing a jaguar in the forest] • [seeing a poisonous snake on the path]

46. Core relational themes of emotion • Anger: piinte, ængi bate

47. Core relational themes of emotion • Anger: piinte, ængi bate • “A demeaning offense against me and mine.” (Lazarus, 1991)

48. Core relational themes of emotion • Anger: piinte, ængi bate • “A demeaning offense against me and mine.” (Lazarus, 1991) • [someone stealing my things]

49. Core relational themes of emotion • Anger: piinte, ængi bate • “A demeaning offense against me and mine.” (Lazarus, 1991) • [someone stealing my things] • [someone passing close to my house without greeting me]

50. Core relational themes of emotion • Anger: piinte, ængi bate • “A demeaning offense against me and mine.” (Lazarus, 1991) • [someone stealing my things] • [someone passing close to my house without greeting me] • [coming home and my wife not serving me manioc beer]