"An outstanding and innovative study on hunting, gardening, and love magic among the Aguaruna. . . . [It is] both highly useful ethnographically and an important contribution to the understanding of how a primitive culture conceptualizes its transactions with nature. The book touches on cosmology and religion as well as the ethnoecology of hunting and agriculture--with an interlude on sex."
--American Ethnologist
An outstanding and innovative study on hunting, gardening, and love magic among the Aguaruna. . . . [It is] both highly useful ethnographically and an important contribution to the understanding of a how a primitive culture conceptualizes its transactions with nature. The book touches on cosmology and religion as well as the ethnoecology of hunting and agriculture—with an interlude on sex.’—American Ethnologist
“A well-written and carefully crafted account of Aguaruna magic and its practical applications [that] diverges from more traditional approaches by focusing not only on the symbolic realm of magic but also on the instrumental intent.”—American Anthropologist
“An excellent ethnographic account. . . . This book is highly original, imaginative, and readable. It should be popular among specialists of Amazonia, as well as useful in a broad range of anthropology courses.”—Latin American Anthropology Review
Michael F. Brown is Lambert Professor of Anthropology and Chair, Department of Anthropology and Sociology at Williams College. He is the author of numerous works including Who Owns Native Culture?