“Vilaca’s monograph skillfully uses the rich history of their encounters with national society as a framework to analyze the Wari’s relational engagement with alterity, that is, how they perceive and define other people in relation to themselves. By addressing the question of continuity and change through classic anthropological themes such as kinship, myth and history, Vilaca’s monograph is set to become a classic reference in Amazonian anthropology and the discipline as a whole.” — Vanessa Elisa Grotti, Bulletin of Latin American Research
“Strange Enemies is the best ethnography ever written about a first contact history and thus probably the single most anthropologically satisfying publication of any kind for thinking about this subject.” — Rupert Stasch, American Anthropologist
“Among the many works on first contact between Indians and non-Indians, Strange Enemies stands out for its illuminating focus on indigenous perspectives and its sophisticated analysis of how the Wari’ conceived of historical change.” — Christine Mathias, Ethnohistory
“Thanks to prolonged fieldwork among the diverse Wari’ subgroups, an excellent command of Wari’ language, and a knack for historical research, Vilaça has produced one of those rare ethnographic gems: a multifaceted, multivoiced, and multilocated narration that accounts for this fateful event in all its complexity.... Thanks to its rich ethnography and bold propositions, Strange Enemies has opened new and exciting perspectives on the seemingly exhausted topics of acculturation and social change. At the same time, it has enriched the burgeoning field of ‘incorporation theory.’” — Fernando Santos-Granero, Journal of Anthropological Research
“[B]road scope makes Strange Enemies a book that should be read even by anthropologists who have little familiarity with Amazonia. It is a compelling example of the vital work that has been emerging from Amazonian anthropologists for the past decade. Like the best of that work, it offers us glimpses into worldviews and practices that are nothing if not mesmerizingly ‘far out.’ And it uses those worldviews and practices to develop insights and conclusions that are unexpected and exhilarating.” — Don Kulick, American Ethnologist
“Aparecida Vilaça’s book, first published in Portuguese in 2006, is an excellent contribution to the anthropology of Amazonia and Melanesia. . . . Vilaça’s book is recommended as important reading to anthropologists, students, and the general reader interested in understanding’ the Other’ in our modern world.” — Colonial Latin American Historical Review
“Not the least merit of this fine ethnography is that it provides important materials for the debate.”
— G.E.R. Lloyd, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
“The book is a well-written, highly readable, profound and original ethnographic and analytic contribution to Amazonian ethnology and ‘first encounter’ literature, such that any divergence in interpretation will also need an extended argument: it should be read by everyone interested in the subject.”
— Edwin Reesink, European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies
This work has profound and far-reaching implications for anthropologists and historians who examine the frontiers of colonialism and globalization. . . . This is contemporary ethnography at its best, skillfully weaving together nuanced theoretical arguments, rich prose and storytelling, and insights that can only be gained by immersion in local settings. . . . Vilaça’s remarkable depiction of the coherence and resilience of native Amazonian peoples even in the face of catastrophic change is a must read for anyone interested in colonialism, globalization, and the place of indigenous peoples in the modern world.” — Michael Heckenberger, American Historical Review
"A rich treatment of how the Wari’ understand people as 'other.'" — Andrew Kirkendall, Human Rights Review
“Thanks to the excellent anthropological work of Aparecida Vilaça and colleagues studying Amazonia and Melanesia, it becomes increasingly apparent that the incorporation of otherness—in practices ranging from marriage and shamanism to warfare and cannibalism—is an essential condition of human being. It follows that the relationship between societies is an essential condition of their respective cultural orders as well as their historical development. Now Vilaça has produced a landmark ethnography of these processes, with an unparalleled documentation from the inside of the assimilation of the outside, highlighted by a stunning analysis of the cultural reciprocities of the colonial encounter.” — Marshall Sahlins, author of The Western Illusion of Human Nature
“This intimate portrait of a remarkable people who insist on encountering modernity on their own terms challenges us to think beyond outmoded notions about acculturation and loss of tradition. Deftly weaving the insights of Amazonian perspectivism with history, myth, and personal experience, Aparecida Vilaça shows how Wari’ choices to live with whites and adopt many of their ways are part of the logic of being indigenous. Empowerment derives from seeing the world through the eyes of others. Strange Enemies invites us to see the world through Wari’ eyes. The view is fascinating.” — Beth A. Conklin, author of Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society