On the little-known and darker side of shamanism there exists an ancient form of sorcery called kanaimÀ, a practice still observed among the Amerindians of the highlands of Guyana, Venezuela, and Brazil that involves the ritual stalking, mutilation, lingering death, and consumption of human victims. At once a memoir of cultural encounter and an ethnographic and historical investigation, this book offers a sustained, intimate look at kanaimÀ, its practitioners, their victims, and the reasons they give for their actions. Neil L. Whitehead tells of his own involvement with kanaimÀ-including an attempt to kill him with poison-and relates the personal testimonies of kanaimÀ shamans, their potential victims, and the victims’ families. He then goes on to discuss the historical emergence of kanaimÀ, describing how, in the face of successive modern colonizing forces-missionaries, rubber gatherers, miners, and development agencies-the practice has become an assertion of native autonomy. His