Abstract

This chapter examines what part non-humans play in the instauration of social conviviality in a small community of former hunter-gatherers. As part of a broader study of the relationship between speech and social life among the Ayoreo of the northern Chaco, this contribution focuses on the social values expressed in ritual wailing songs. I firstly introduce the Ayoreo and their speech, and provide a detailed description of the performance and the lyrics of the laments. I then depict the manifestation of the clans in Ayoreo social interactions, with special focus on clan possessions. These findings will help us to understand how the Ayoreo highlight mutual interdependence – affective and economical – by means of references involving non-humans, and how this interdependence is crucial in their notion of conviviality.