Gender and power among the Awa (Maranhão, Brasil). The use of etnoarchaeology for a consideration about past representation

Abstract

The Awá are a group of hunters-gatherers that having been moved to an indigenous reservation by the Brazilian government to guarantee his protection have begun to transform the way of life they had before the contact. Basically, they have reduced their mobility and began to cultivate. Although this fact is affecting to the social function of women, we can study yet the power relationships that have defined traditionally this society. This analysis makes clear that the relations between awá men and women are much more complex that the simple projection of our current gender categories would allow supposing. Archaeology works with representations of the past that, in most of the cases, do not challenge the universality of gender categories corresponding to later historical moments. Hence, we consider that the analysis of the gender relations in Awá society could provide a valuable source of suggestions in order to construct more open and complex representations of the past than those that have been used by archaeologists.