Dolphins and Other Lovers

As Eliran Arazi spends time with the Andoque, an Indigenous people in southern Colombia along the Caquetá River, he finds himself increasingly drawn into their tales that interweave sexuality with the creatures of the jungle. Gradually, those stories begin to shape his own way of thinking about seduction in modern life, as his mind spins off its own fantasies. A fascinating piece that blurs the lines between writer and subject, leaving the reader in a dreamlike state. A few days later, jaguar footprints appeared along the long path leading to a small harbour on the Caquetá River. For the next week, Dufi’s family expressed concerns about venturing down that path, especially alone, for fear of a jaguar attack. When I mentioned my plan to go there for a phone call, hoping for better reception by the river, one of Dufi’s sons again cautioned me about the jaguar. Dufi, however, quickly reassured me. I had nothing to fear because jaguars dislike the soapy, perfumed scent of white people, which, he added, is precisely the smell that attracts dolphins. As I reached the Caquetá in the late afternoon, I sensed the dolphin smell again. Odours and attraction, I thought – at least it works both ways. More picks on anthropology Walk In These “Shoes are deeply personal, literally moulded to our lives. But they create our social lives as much as express them.” The Strange Power of Laughter “An anthropologist explores laughter as a far more complex phenomenon than simple delight—reflecting on its surprising power to disturb and disrupt.” Children of the Ice Age “With the help of new archaeological approaches, our picture of young lives in the Palaeolithic is now marvellously vivid.” Deep Time Sickness “In Mexico, people who are ‘tocado’—’touched’—reveal that geological traumas, like earthquakes, can destabilize our concepts of health, identity and even time.”