GRINGOS AND WILD INDIANS - IMAGES OF HISTORY IN WESTERN AMAZONIAN CULTURES

In apparent contrast to the supposedly static and antihistoric culture of most Amazonian societies, the people of the lower Urubamba stress the transformational and transient nature of civilisation, a process p oised between the asocial existence of ''wild Indians'' and the dehuma nized life of urban Whites who live through machines. The author compa res this social philosophy with that of other purportedly ''acculturat ed'' Indians of the Amazon, and shows how the distinctive culture of t hese groups develops themes common to ''traditional'' native groups, w hile reflecting the weight of history in Amazonia.