It is not unusual for Wapishana people to speak about spirits. There are daily discussions about kanaimas and river spirits in Region 9, Guyana, and people often carry a clove of garlic in their pockets for protection. Typically when people describe spirits, however, they refer to them as either genderless or male. During my fieldwork I encountered one dramatically different example, the granny spirit who is understood as the cause of the sickness, a local term for a particular type of spirit possession. The sickness primarily affects young women who live in the dormitory of the boarding school, who experience fits, become incredibly strong and violent, and ultimately run up the mountain located behind the dormitory. The spirit who is understood to be the catalyst of this kind of possession is not only understood to be female, but also an older, gnarled ‘granny.’ This sheds light on the gendered aspect of possession and how the sickness relates to the experience of the life cycle for young girls. The paper will explore the implications of the granny spirit on intergenerational relationships, separation and kinship, and rapid social change in the region.

Panel 11: “Nonhuman and Other-than-Human Gender and Sexuality in Indigenous Lowland South America” (organized by Theresa L. Miller, Smithsonian Institution).