Seducing the Spirits

When Jenny Dunfree, a graduate student in ornithology, is assigned to a birding project in a remote area of Panama, she is given one directive by her superior: don't piss anyone off. Almost immediately, Jenny encounters problems with this assignment.While slogging on with her research, Jenny is required to attend weekly "e;town hall"e; meetings in the Kuna village. Jenny finds the native Kuna people to be a prickly lot, quick to take offense. But as the weeks pass, Jenny becomes acquainted with Pedro, a man cynical and detached from his own culture; Eulogio, the charismatic leader; Iris, who had married the previous ornithology student; the racially prejudiced Anselmo; and Ceferino, with whom Jenny shares a passion for the natural world. Jenny also encounters outsiders with their own agendas for the Kunas and the surrounding rainforest.