Strange Enemies

In 1956, in the Brazilian state of Rondonia, near the border with Bolivia, a group of Wari' Indians experienced their first peaceful contact with whites: Protestant missionaries and agents from the national government's Indian Protection Service. On returning to their villages, the Wari' announced, 'We touched their bodies!' The whites reported to their people that 'The region's most warlike tribe has entered the pacification phase!' First published in Brazil, "Strange Enemies" is a vivid ethnography describing the first encounters between two groups with radically different worldviews. Aparecida Vilaca focuses on the process of pacification conducted by Brazilian government agents, U.S. Protestant missionaries, and representatives of the Catholic Church between 1956 and 1969. During the 1940s and 1950s, white rubber-tappers interested in Wari' lands raided their villages, shooting and killing sleeping victims. Those massacres prompted the Wari' to initiate a period of intense retaliatory warfare. The national government and religious organizations stepped in, seeking to pacify the Indians. Vilaca was able to interview both Wari' and non-Wari' people who participated in these events. She reproduces many Wari' testimonies in "Strange Enemies". Drawing on those interviews and an analysis of tribal myths, Vilaca describes Wari' conceptions of self and other. The Wari' categorize others as strangers and enemies. White people are enemies. In the past, enemies could be killed in acts of warfare. In the present day, violent encounters are rare and life in close proximity with enemies is common. Vilaca provides a subtle analysis of what it means for the Wari' to live with enemies when warfare is no longer an option. With "Strange Enemies", she makes a major contribution to the ethnographic record on Amazonia and the understanding of the present-day situation of indigenous people.