The genesis of elusive Amazonia: Narrative agency in branding the ‘Indian’

Abstract

This article takes a new approach to the question of identity politics among indigenous Amazonian communities, by relating it to brand theory. The discussion centres on the Kayapo of southern Para in the Brazilian Amazon, who came into contact with The Body Shop in the early 1990s. Although it is commonly acknowledged that initial European contact with Indigenous communities proved devastating to their peoples, in their renewed contact with external forces, the Kayapo became known for strategically engaging with external bodies to obtain enhanced rights to territory and access to resources. In the process, a compelling narrative of Indian identity kindled an emotionally invested global audience's projection of Edenic Indian ‘guardians of the forest’, thus honing the creation of a pristine Indian ‘brand’. Framing the popularised Indian identity as a branding exercise, the author explores its appropriation by The Body Shop, and by the Kayapo's own use of what developed into an essentialist discourse. This article offers an alternative critical approach to the widely problematised Indian conundrum from the perspective of branding technique, by highlighting the mechanisms and interactions that together have crafted the subjects’ commoditised identity.