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The Wa people have a rich civilization of their own, and a deep history in the mountains of Southeast Asia. Their mythology suggests their land is the first place inhabited by humans, which they care for on behalf of the world. This book introduces aspects of Wa culture, including their approach to the world’s troubles and the lessons others might learn from it. It also presents a new interpretation of Wa headhunting, questioning explanations that see it as a primitive custom, and instead placing it within the fraught history of the last few centuries.
“In conclusion, ‘Stories from an Ancient Land’ is a commendable achievement that brings a wealth of empirical detail and conceptual sophistication to bear on the larger anthropological question concerning the nature of fate and human agency… This book makes a significant original contribution to the growing field of Wa studies. It should be welcomed by anyone interested in general anthropological theory and the cultures, peoples, and history of China and Southeast Asia.” • Anthropos
“[This is a] groundbreaking study. Read it—it is well worth it.” • The Irrawaddy.com
“Stories from an Ancient Land creatively weaves together ethnohistory, fieldwork, archival research, and social theory. Through his research on and with the Wa in southwest China and in the Myanmar borderlands, Fiskesjö has crafted a thorough and insightful examination of Wa society and cultural dynamics. This excellent ethnography is in equal measure bold and nuanced. It offers compelling angles on peripheral situations, complex histories, violence, grotesque imagery, appropriation, and cultural resilience.” • Hjorleifur Jonsson, Arizona State University
List of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Sources, History, Issues
Chapter 1. Gifts and Debts: Fieldwork in the Wa Lands
Chapter 2. Naming Oneself, Naming the World
Chapter 3. Rice Beer and the Making of Wa Sociality
Chapter 4. Mining, Hierarchy, and the Anti-State Wa
Chapter 5. Slavery as a Threat to the Ideology of Kinship
Chapter 6. War, Headhunting, and the Erasure of Wa History
Chapter 7. Barbarian Ruse: Playing With the Fears of the Civilized
Chapter 8. Disease and Death in the Peripheral Situation
Chapter 9. Hope Against Hope: Border Prophets and Foreign Saviors
Chapter 10. The Power of the Exotic: Negotiating the Future
Epilogue
References
Index