Teilen macht Gesellschaft

Wirtschaftsethnologische Betrachtungen am Beispiel der Menkü Zentralbrasiliens

Abstract

This paper focuses on transactions of edible goods among the Menkü, an indigenous group of the southern Brazilian Amazon. The distribution cycles of killed game are described as a process of sharing by which the relationships of the giver to those around him are created and redefined. In this case sharing is characterized by the co-presence of donor and recipient. Furthermore sharing is conceived as a process which defines and confirms relations of affinity and alterity. It is argued that for the Menkü sharing is a multilateral process that depends on the complementarity of the sexes and the respective life phases of those involved. Transactions are revealed as an ambivalent process, which on the one hand contributes to the creation of good group morality, while on the other hand implying obligations towards the human and non-human worlds. Based on the notion of the high value of social cohesion, the article focuses on how transactions involving consumable goods are incorporated in an egalitarian community. Unlike monetary transactions non-monetary transactions involving edible goods are revealed as allowing multiple interactions to take place with the encompassing environment of the people, ancestors and spirits of the savannah and the forest. It is argued that the distribution and consumption of the components of a ‘complete meal’ are considered to express successful interactions between different social spheres as a prerequisite for permanent well-being among the Menkü.