Paper short abstract:

This paper describes the phenomena of mass spirit possession of adolescent Amerindian girls who attend boarding school in Sand Creek Village, Guyana. It will explore the impact of separation from kin and kinship networks for Amerindian youth, and how that plays a role in 'The Sickness'.

Paper long abstract:

While most villages in the Guyanese hinterland have a government built primary school, many students must leave their home community to gain a secondary school education. As Guyanese beliefs link education directly to ideas about development and modernity, there is an increasing social pressure for Amerindian youth to attend boarding schools. However, these young people leave as early as the age of 10, and the way of life in the state run boarding school is markedly different to traditional community life. This paper aims to describe and analyze "The Sickness", the local term for mass spirit possession, and what it reflects about Amerindian young girls' understanding of and relationship with their collective history.

Life in Amerindian communities functions around intimate kinship networks, which are crucial for mutual care and social support systems. An important aspect of Amazonian theory highlights the idea that personhood and subjectivity are shaped and molded by the social relationships a person actively engages in, through physical proximity and sharing of substance with kin. The move to boarding schools marks an abrupt rift in shared affect, as young girls move from family oriented social spaces into vast dormitories with rows of bunk beds. This paper will explore how separation from kin and kinship networks may be playing a role in the phenomenon of mass spirit possession amongst adolescent girls in Guyanese boarding schools.