This present article revisits the theme of how the indigenous people of Amazonia conceptualize humanity, taking as its reference the mythology of the Yanomami, a people who inhabit northern Amazonia. We highlight the apparently contradictory meanings that the concept of humanity may have in native cosmologies. Despite the fact that this problem has not been a matter of much debate, we argue that it is the base for a series of antinomies present in Amazonian ethnology. The most evident of these is the characterization of Amerindian socialities as either "ethnocentric" or marked by an "openness to the Other". We try to demonstrate that the Yanomami conceptualize humanity either as an immanent condition, shared by different species, or as a quality that is exclusive to the kinship community. By establishing a dialogue with Roy Wagner's theory of symbolism, we argue that both of these meanings are dialectically linked and that this articulation is a key aspect of the construction of native sociality.
Yanomami; Mythology; Humanity; Metamorphosis; Morality