Chronicle of the Guayaki Indians is Pierre Clastres's account of his
1963-64 encounter with this small Paraguayan tribe, a precise and
detailed recording of the history, ritual, myths, and culture of this
remarkably unique, and now vanished, people. "Determined not to let the
slightest detail" escape him or to leave unanswered the many questions
prompted by his personal experiences, Clastres follows the Guayaki in
their everyday lives.
Now available for the first time in a stunningly beautiful translation
by Paul Auster, Chronicle of the Guayaki Indians radically alters not
only the Western academic conventions in which other cultures are
thought but also the discipline of political anthropology itself.
Chronicle of the Guayaki Indians was awarded the Alta Prize in
nonfiction by the American Literary Translators Association.