The article reflects on property and wellbeing among the Xikrin-mebêngôkre (Kayapó) Indians. It argues that these notions must be articulated with a wider problem in Indigenous philosophy and existence: differentiation. It proposes that one of the definitions of well-being in the Mebêngôkre social world is the maintenance, in all levels, of a certain coefficient of difference. Difference, in turn, is linked to the notion of property (particularly ceremonial property), since the ritual system is a basic, collective mechanism of differentiation. The establishment of a totemic-type system of dividing property served to avoid crises of indifferentiation, thereby ensuring well-being. It is suggested that the Mebêngôkre ritual system underwent important historical changes that have shifted a totemic-type differentiation towards a hierarchical-type differentiation, within which rivalries can emerge both in the heart of communities and between them.
Amazonia; Property; Wellbeing; Differentiation; Ritual