Transit of Enchanted Care: network of gift and lay physicians in the Tocantins based Amazon

This article approaches a network of gift exchange directed by female healers named “lay physicians”, riverine inhabitants spread along the Low Tocantins River, in Pará State, Brazil. The network inserts patients in a circuit of reciprocal care that involves healers, woods, rivers, pharmacy drugs, enchanted beings, orishas, angels, and catholic saints. The study seeks to understand the senses and the social repercussions linked to healing activities performed by lay physicians based on the concept of “transit of enchanted care”. The research work was developed as an anthropological participant observation, accomplished by contacting patients, visiting continuously five lay physicians in different riverine communities, recording interviews, and writing down aspects of events which occurred in the field.

Keywords:
Tocantins based Amazon; Lay physicians; Gift of cure; Care; Exchange