Cultural understandings of well-being often differ from scientific measures such as health, happiness, and affluence. For the Indigenous A'uwẽ (Xavante) people in the tropical savannas of Brazil, special forms of intimate and antagonistic social relations, camaraderie, suffering, and engagement with the environment are fundamental aspects of community wellness. Anthropologist James R. Welch transparently presents ethnographic insights from his long-term fieldwork in two A'uwẽ communities. He addresses how distinctive constructions of age organization contribute to social well-being in an era of major ecological, economic, and sociocultural change. Welch shows how A'uwẽ perspectives on the human life cycle help define ethnic identity, promote cultural resilience, and encourage the betterment of youth. They provide frameworks that people may creatively mobilize to responsibly and respectfully engage with others at different stages of life. They also motivate people to access and manage landscape resources essential to the social construction of good living. Through careful analysis, Welch shows how contemporary traditional peoples can foster enthusiasm for service to family and community amid dominant cultures that prioritize individual well-being.

Contents

• [Dedication]
• ABBREVIATIONS
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• NOTES ON ORTHOGRAPHY AND VERBAL TENSES
• CHAPTER 1. Social Well-Being: People, Place, and Approach
  • Human Wellness in Ethnographic Perspective
  • The A’uwẽ of Pimentel Barbosa and Etênhiritipá Communities
  • Fieldwork and Ethnographic Approaches
  • Objectives and Organization
• CHAPTER 2. Informal Life Cycles of Good Living
  • Substance of Infancy
  • Individualized Phases of Life
  • Children and Adolescents: A Time for Imitation
  • Wives, Mothers, and Providers
  • Elders, Guardians of Ethnobiological Knowledge
• CHAPTER 3. Age Group Systems and the Formalization of Social Relations
  • Secular Age Group System
• CHAPTER 4. Seniority and Leadership
  • Construction of Political Harmony
  • Exogamous Moieties and Heritable Prerogatives
  • Notions of Relatedness
  • Genealogical Seniority in the Political Enterprise
• CHAPTER 5. Age Organization in Perspective
  • Plurality, Agency, and Heterarchy
  • Gê Ethnological Frameworks
• CHAPTER 6. Life Cycles of Environmental Engagement
  • Age Organization and Environmental Practice
  • Mobility, Circumscription, and Monetarization
  • A’uwẽ Concepts of Environmental Conservation
  • Women’s Collecting Excursion
  • Secular Age Set Fishing Expedition
  • Group Hunting with Fire
• CHAPTER 7. Dimensions of Community Well-Being Today
  • Contemporary Contexts
  • Food Security and Reciprocity
  • Sedentism, Healthcare Units, Schoolhouses, and Electrification
  • Camaraderie
• Postscript
• GLOSSARY OF A’UWẼ TERMS
• NOTES
• REFERENCES
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR

We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to twenty-two federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O’odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.

Cover design by Leigh McDonald

Cover photo by James R. Welch

Typeset by Sara Thaxton in 10/14 Minion Pro with Fournier MT Std, Constantia, and Diotima LT Std

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Welch, James R., author.

Title: Persistence of good living : A’uwe life cycles and well-being in the central Brazilian cerrados / James R. Welch.

Description: Tucson : University of Arizona Press, 2023. | Series: Global change / global health | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022031523 (print) | LCCN 2022031524 (ebook) | ISBN 9780816547340 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780816547357 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Xavante Indians—Brazil—Terra Indígena Pimentel Barbosa. | Xavante Indians—Brazil—Terra Indígena Pimentel Barbosa—Social life and customs.

Classification: LCC F2520.1.A4 W46 2023 (print) | LCC F2520.1.A4 (ebook) | DDC 305.898/4—dc23/eng/20221104

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022031523

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022031524

Printed in the United States of America

♾ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).