RK 14-11-23

incl. ref.

This article looks into notions of the sky among the Guaycuru aboriginal groups in the Argentine Chaco within the context of the socio-religious changes they have undergone since the eighteenth century. By using ethno-astronomy and anthropology of religion perspectives, and based on our own ethnographic and documentary work, we have analyzed both the continuities and the ruptures in the Guaycuru skies. In doing so, we have found that social relations between humans and non-humans shape the Guaycuru experience of celestial space. These bonds have a strongly political character as they are structured around power asymmetries. The colonial experience, including Christian missions, has imposed modernity on these groups as an overall horizon of possibilities. However, the Guaycuru have sought to redefine modernity, creating their own 'modernity paths'