Perveted kinship, the Guna example (Panama)

Abstract

Based on ethnography carried out among the Guna (Kuna), an Amerindian population dwelling in the Atlantic coast of Panama, this article aims to reflect on kinship and relatedness from its terminological praxis. Analysis focuses on the uses of kinship vocabulary by those people who affirm a subjectivity in disagreement with the gender assigned to them at birth (omeggid, local category meaning "woman-like"). Considering the appellations in Ego's generation (G0), especially those referring to consanguinity (brother/sussu; sister/iolo), the article demonstrates that kinship terminology enables to combine structure and strategy. Calling someone by sussu or iolo, the omeggids produce for themselves a feminine gendered position; at the same time, at the expense of matrimonial exchange or alliance, they affirm a "way of life" which is structured by relations of friendship.