Los ritos, los curanderos y la ley
Rites, healers and the law

Summary/Abstract: The ontological difference on which positive law and indigenous customary law in Latin America are based is one of the most important problems in the field of legal conflict between both systems. The ontological difference of the indigenous world is visible, among others, in the ways of passing and executing sentences. Punishment is often ritualistic and reintegrates the punished person into the community. In many cultures where witchcraft is a common phenomenon, sentences are given by shamans and healers. Illustrating the above statements with examples from various Latin American indigenous cultures, the article shows that law based on the vision of the Western world often cannot be an adequate response to some events taking place in indigenous worlds. This is not least because in the world of positivist rationality these events or phenomena simply do not exist.

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