Indigenous Wayana- Apalaí knowledge (SAWA)

Indigenous Wayana- Apalaí knowledge – A new approach to restitution and its implications for the forms of transmission

The goal of this project is the empowerment and restitution to the Wayanas and Apalaís of sound, film, and photographic collections documenting the knowledge of these indigenous people of Guyana. The project also proposes a reflection on restitution practices and their impact on the transmission of “traditional” knowledge. Its originality lies with the central role accorded the studied populations – a Wayana-Apalaí team is actively participating in the conception of the portal (the tool of restitution) as well as defining selections, modalities of analysis, and conditions of access to the data.

Responding to local demand, the project includes collaboration with the Wayanas and Apalaís on a book documenting an important body of ritual chants and a study of Wayana museum collections, particularly those of the Quai Branly Museum, which holds ancient ritual objects referenced in the chants. The Amerindian Ethnological Teaching and Research Center is leading programs to develop audiovisual collections in collaboration with the societies being studied and this project will integrate the creation of modes of interactive distribution of synchronized sound and text along with multimedia links to texts and objects. The project unites domestic cluster partners (Laboratory of Ethnology and Comparative Sociology, Quai Branly Museum) with those in Guyana, Germany, and Brazil.

Principal Investigator

Éliane Camargo

Project managers

Valentina VAPNARSKY , Laboratoire d'Ethnologie et de Sociologie Comparative, UMR 7186 - Équipe EREA (Enseignement et Recherche en Ethnologie Amérindienne)

Fabienne de PIERREBOURG , Head of the collection "Americas" , Musée du quai Branly

Internal cluster partners

• Laboratory of Ethnology and Comparative Sociology (LESC) - UMR 7186
• Quai Branly Museum - Jacques Chirac
• Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Mondes - USR 3225

Associated partners

Ipê Association
http://ipe-recherche-action.org/

Local heritages (UMR208) – National Museum of Natural History, Guyana
http://amazonian-museum-network.org/fr/les-musees-d-amazonie/musee-des-cultures-guyanaises

Cultural Affairs, Guyana
http://www.culturecommunication.gouv.fr/Regions/Dac-Guyane

Le Serviço Social do Comércio (SESC) de São Paulo

University of Bonn
https://www.uni-bonn.de/

A team of Wayanas and Apalaís from Brazil and Guyana

Laboratory of Image and Sound in Anthropology (Brazil)

Duration