A transcultural psychiatry investigation among the Maskoy natives of northern Chaco

Abstract

This investigation aims at a psychiatric research in the context of an analysis of contemporary culture among the ethnical Maskoy group in Northern Chaco. This group is composed of four tribes of different culture: the Lengua-Maskoy, the Angaité, the Sanapaná and the Kashkihá.Among other discoveries, in this investigation we verify the importance of madness for the hermeneutics of culture.The apparent increase of mental diseases among the Maskoy, which has been pointed out by different authors, is also analyzed, as well as the importance —in order to explain this phenomenon— of the cultural changes which have taken place in the ethnic group of the Maskoy and which have brought about the abolition of ancient tribal practices.In order to place the Maskoy ethnically and historically among the cultures of the "Gran Chaco" an exegesis of diverse very valuable texts has been undertaken; some of them are little known or unpublished, as those of the Mennonite priest Dietrich Lepp.