A’uwẽ (Xavante) Social Constructions of Well-Being in Central Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT Well-being is a heterogeneous idea with inconsistent applicability to real-world circumstances. In this article, I explore A’uwẽ (Xavante) notions of social well-being from an ethnographic perspective. My data indicate many members of this Indigenous group understand wellness to involve not only health and harmony, but also certain modes of strife and inequality that are also viewed as desirable. A’uwẽ understandings of social wellness, including linkages to the environment, suggest that a broader and more locally contingent concept of social well-being than is evident in mainstream literature would benefit transcultural health efforts and policy involving Indigenous and other culturally distinct communities.