Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how institutionalized schooling and shifts in environmental patterns are impacting relationships between Amerindian youth and non-human actors in the savannahs of Southern Guyana.

Paper long abstract:

In Southern Guyana, Amerindian young people learn and grow in relation to their surroundings and in relationships with the spirits of the environment. Equipped with embodied knowledge they acquire through observing their parents, other kin and neighbours, they learn how to survive and thrive in the farm and forest and how to foster relationships with these non-human actors that are a central feature of this environment. However, due to the increasing unpredictability of weather patterns in the savannah, elders are finding it difficult to maintain these relationships in the ways they and their ancestors always have. All Amerindians, young and old, are increasingly concerned by these alarming shifts and changes. To further complicate the situation, after they reach the age of 13, almost all Amerindian youth leave their home communities to attend regional boarding schools, isolating them from crucial social relationships with humans and non-humans alike. Through the lens of spiritual relations in particular, I will focus on narratives about interactions with spirits on the farm and in the forest, and put these in dialogue with a phenomenon called the sickness, a form of spiritual crisis that primarily affects young women in boarding school dormitories. Using the sickness as an analytical lens, I will trace the myriad of ways that relationships between Amerindian youth and spirits throughout the savannah are changing in light of rapid environmental and social change.