. Rethinking history and myth : indigenous South American perspectives on the past / edited by Jonathan D. Hill. 0252015436 (alk. paper) series Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c1988.
Call#: Van Pelt Library F2230.1.R3 R47 1988

 

The first part of the chapter “The Whiteman in Waura Myth” by Emilienne Ireland describes the attitudes of an Amazon tribe, the Waura, towards the whiteman, compiled through a series of interviews. The tribe exists in central Brazil, largely isolated from the developed world. The tribe generally sees the whiteman negatively. The tribe values self-control and compassion for others including a willingness to share, which they see as universal traits for any human. The tribe cannot understand how the whiteman can have such advanced technology yet cannot get along “without constant resort to physical violence.” Because he cannot control himself and will often withhold food or other goods from those in need, the tribe often sees the whiteman as not entirely human. They trace the violence in white men to parental abuse of children who then pass on to each subsequent generation. For the tribe, violence, shouting, anger and the like constitute the most negative human traits.
While this is the example of only one tribe’s values, other tribes regard them as antiquated, indicating these values apply broadly to Amazon tribes. Thus one could use the Waura people as a way to understand the mindset of the tribesmen in Fitzcarraldo. When one looks at the attitudes of the tribe, they conflict in almost every way possible with those of Klaus Kinski and to a lesser degree Herzog. Thus, while watching the film, one can regard the tribesmen slightly differently when interacting with Kinski on screen. They would view him as a lesser human and would be very disturbed by any sort of explosive actions on his part. While most of Kinski’s wildest outbursts took place off screen, the apprehension of the natives in approaching him sometimes can be better understood in the context of what took place right before the action on screen begins. It may be little wonder why the natives offered to kill Kinski as a kind gesture to Herzog by the end of the shoot.