The World that Gets Damaged. Human Transgressions, Cataclysmic Punishments and the Partial De-Creation of the World among the Yukpa

Abstract

The absence of marked end-of-the-world scenarios and cyclical cataclysms is embedded in the Yukpa conception of a world in process. Owaya tamorhiya, the world under construction, is characterized by processes of differentiation and alteration, whose shaping of spatio-temporal, ontological and social differences, as well as the introduction of agriculture, have given rise to the present world. Owaya akayi, the world that is damaged, on the other hand, refers to the partial dissolution of these differences, a slight return to owaya tamorhiya and, therefore, to a partial de-creation of the world. The causes of these world damages are human transgressions and cataclysmic punishments, imposed by deified creator figures and personified natural phenomena. The Yukpa's linking of classical cataclysmic motifs with Christian moralization and global climate debates is illustrated by three prominent global harms: eclipses, deluges, and crop failures.