Xavante Ritual Hunting: Anthropogenic Fire, Reciprocity, and Collective Landscape Management in the Brazilian Cerrado

Abstract

Conservation attention to indigenous hunting with fire in the cerrado largely focuses on sustainability as construed in scientific terms rather than according to indigenous points of view. Towards the goal of reframing the debate in terms more congruent with indigenous perspectives, I address how the Xavante (A’uwẽ) view ritualized and collective hunting, including hunting with fire, as indispensable means of acquiring gifts by which to celebrate important events, express feelings of respect and gratitude towards others, promote positive social values among male youth, and maintain the group’s ethnic identity. In particular, ritualized exchanges of game meat are necessary and culturally appropriate means of expressing esteem for others at some of life’s most important moments. For the Xavante, the social imperative to give and receive gifts of meat during weddings and initiation ceremonies motivates efforts to maintain the collective hunting with fire tradition in a manner that ensures its long term environmental viability.