social equality and ritual hierarchy: the Arawakan Wakuénai of Venezuela

The social organization of Eastern Tukanoan peoples in the Northwest Amazon region shows a dual tendency toward egalitarian and hierarchical relationships. This paper provides new data on the neighboring Northern Arawakan peoples of the Isana and Guainía rivers. It explores the equality‐versus‐hierarchy contrast as a pair of distinct, yet interconnected, modes of structuring that create adaptive flexibility in response to extreme seasonal fluctuations of basic riverine resources.