A Call to Ecological Awareness in Human Relationships
The purpose of this workshop is to introduce the Amazonian mythology of the Kaxinawá (self-named as Huni Kuin meaning “true people”) under the umbrella of archetypal inter-subjectivity – a concept that I developed during my doctoral studies. Within an anthropocentric perspective, only human beings have subjectivity. What is being proposed within the concept of archetypal inter-subjectivity is the call to awareness that matter is not something inert, but, as an integral part of the formation of life on our planet, it also has a history which begins with the innumerable interactions with other elements that are part of its formation. Therefore, because it is interactive, it has alterity, subjectivity, and archetypal character. Thus, archetypal inter-subjectivity is a theory that seeks to comprehend the psychological phenomena through the archetypal interaction between beings in a given environment. The archetypal inter-subjectivity theory presupposes that the relationship individuals develop with one another and with the environment directly influence the internal experience of being aware. It also contributes to the development of one’s personality and complexes that will surge as a result of the quality of those interactions.
The Kaxinawá occupy a vast territory in the basin of the Juruá and Purus rivers, an area in Western Amazonia between Brazil and Peru. They form the largest group of the Pano linguistic family and the total population is close to 6,000 people with 75% of them on the Brazilian side. I chose Kaxinawá myths due to their relevant production of written contents in their own mother tongue. There are books about Kaxinawá mythology, chants, and small reports used to support their formal education.
The myths I will present during this workshop are part of their Shenipabu Miyui- stories of the ancients- archival collection.
Learning Objectives: to describe four characteristics of the Kaxinawá/Huni Kuin archetypal stories and their respective psychological meaning and to apply the term archetypal inter-subjectivity as an epistemology.