Paper short abstract:

In this paper I reflect on some of the issues that prompted the building of a new Panará village, and the use of space therein. . In particular I revisit the idea of ‘spatial descent groups’ and the notion that clans identify with specific locations in the village circle.

Paper long abstract:

In 2009 Panará people built a new village upstream over the village where they have lived since 1997. This is the first time since the early 1970s that they have lived in multiple villages. In this paper I reflect on some of the issues that prompted the building of the new village, and the use of space therein. In particular I revisit the idea of 'spatial descent groups' and the notion that clans identify with specific locations in the village circle. Drawing on accounts dating back to the late 19th/early 20th century, as well as more recent ethnographic accounts I ask whether connections between space and identity among Ge-speaking groups are above all 'things anthropologists worry about'.