Abstract

This article looks at the Guna through the prism of the residential home, a privileged space for communion and sharing scarce resources. I first show that residence in Gunayala is based on a "domestic economy of thoughts": a lazy person (wiegala) is someone who does not think of others (binsaed suli), and is thus called sunnasuli - "not a true relative" or simply "mean person". The language of the gift stamps transactions that take place in the context of intimacy. I explore the consequences of the Guna ethics of conviviality in relation to manhood, considering the thought of men towards their wives as a condition for maintaining and keeping them in the house of their affines. The issue of exchange is analysed through the mythological, ritual and sociological roots of uxorilocality, allowing us to frame the effort in consubstantializing affines in terms of residential drama: the drama of alliance or alliance as drama.

Key words:
Gender; Intimacy; Ethics; Uxorilocality; Manhood; Guna