Contracts with the dawanka and productive processes among the coastal Miskitu

Abstract

This article examines the role of the 'spirit owners' or dawanka who among the Miskitu control supplies of fish and game, as well as access to other goods. Whereas the existing literature on relations between similar beings and other Amerindian peoples tends to demonstrate a balanced or generalized reciprocity emphasizing social reproduction, those between dawanka and the Miskitu of Kakabila are often mutually exploitative and destructive. The article considers the region's socio-economic history, changing conceptions of personhood, and materials gleaned from fieldwork, concluding that present-day perceptions dawanka and other 'mythical' beings frequently represent a fear of the individualistic and selfishly motivated forms of exchange which many see as having come to replace those that are socially reproductive.