"The length and breadth of the Whittens' fieldwork in Ecuador adds a level of depth and insight that is unparalleled in Latin American studies. Their way of integrating earlier and more recent theories allows readers to understand how the contemporary concern for ethnogenesis, interculturality, and alternative modernities was anticipated several decades ago in works that still speak to us today in relevant terms."--Jonathan D. Hill, author of Made-from-Bone: Trickster Myths, Music, and History from the Amazon