Crimes e acusações de feitiçaria entre os Ajáuas, debruçando sobre processos criminais coloniais 1920 a 1940

Abstract

This work aims at studying the witchcraft accusations registered in northern Mozambique (Niassa province) during the colonial period. We intend to understand the correlation between such accusations and the social conflicts, especially the ones related to disputes over power inside the local relationship matrix. This study will make it possible to structure the social history of the Ajáua people. Based on the transcribed reports, we may comprehend the symbolic logic of their language, their “view of the world” and also how the witchcraft discourse is framed in that view. We will see that the witchcraft is related to the discourse of power. It reproduces the hierarchy and the dominance relations present in their society and relationship matrix. The frequent accusations may reveal much broader issues. According to most sources, political strategies and rivalries are the main motivations for witchcraft accusations. From this point of view, the witchcraft discourse is seen as an instrument, a tool whereby individuals seek legitimacy to justify their actions and the crimes they commit. We are able to verify that the witchcraft discourse is the means by which the rivalries emerge, motivated by revenge feelings, disputes over power or the acquisition of economic goods.