Yanomamo

Yanomamo

A Complex People

The Environment and Human Adaptation:

The Yanomamo are an indigenous group who live in the northern Amazon rainforest on the border of Brazil and Venezuela. There are approximately 350 villages of 5 different subdivisions spread out in the area. The geography consists of dense tropical forests mixed with savannas at the higher elevations. The topography ranges from flat to gently rolling hills and elevations of 250 to 1200 meters.

High heat and humidity are typical throughout the year. The average high temperatures are 86-93 degrees F with the average lows being 64-72 F. The humidity averages 65-80% throughout the year. The main rainy season is from April to August, but rain is typical all year round.

Being close to the Equator the area receives approximately 12 hours of daylight throughout the year, with about 7-8 hours of sunshine per day. Being in the rainforest there is a wide variety of plants. There are hundreds of tree varieties and thousands of smaller plants. There are about 60 varieties of amphibians, 100 types of reptiles, 125 mammal species, 150 species of butterflies and 400 species of birds.

The environment has a variety of stresses. High heat, high humidity and exposure to sun are a few of the more constant ones. Diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue, chagas and filariasis are also another stress for inhabitants of the area. A population that lives in an area over multiple generations can develop adaptations to physically overcome these stresses.

One physical adaptation that the Yanomamo people have made to the environment is a darker skin tone. This darker pigmentation provides them protection from the large amounts of sun, and ultraviolet rays, that they are exposed to living so close to the equator.

Another adaptation that the Yanomamo have physically made is seen in their body structure. They are taller and thiner, which according to "Allen's Rule" helps them to physically dissipate excess heat so that their internal core temperature can stay cooler.

There are several cultural adaptations that they have made to adjust to the stresses in their environment. One of these is the limited clothing that they wear on a daily basis. This helps to keep them cool in the heat and humidity.

Another adaptation they have made is sleeping in open-air dwellings in hammocks. This allows for more comfortable sleep in the warm night temperatures.

A third adaptation the Yanomami have made to their environment is that of planting crops. Typical crops include cassava, plantains and tobacco. This provides them a consistent variety of food for their village.

Language and Gender Roles:


The language of the Yanomamo is called Yanomamo or Yanomami. It is part of the family Yanomaman (Yanoman). There are 4 subgroups of the language Yanoma, Sanuma, Ninam and Yanam. Dialects include Parima, Padamo-Orinoco and Cobari. The language is thought to predate the Carib and Arawak language families. There is a formal dialect called Wayamo that is used by men during certain rituals.

There is no written language for Yanomamo, but they do have a large vocabulary of about 6000-7000 words and an extensive oral literature. Storytelling is used as entertainment and as a form of art.

There are some sources that claim that the Yanomamo adhere to strict gender roles, but there is much evidence to refute that claim.

Men hunt using the bow and arrow. They are heavily involved in food production and distribution. Clearing fields and tending the crops are large components of their responsibilities. They are responsible for cooking foods used in ritual ceremonies.

Women spend their time preparing the daily meals such as manioc. They also catch crabs with their hands. Gardening is a part of their day as well.

Although women can be "stolen" by another village, there are not segregated places in the village that they can not go. The men do not have areas that are restricted to them either. Household labor division is quite fluid, depending on what tasks need to be completed. This includes parental roles.

The mother is most important in the child's early years, but the father is an active participant as well.

Economy of Culture:


The Yanomamo are considered a horticultural society. Horticulture is defined as "cultivation of crops carried out with simple hand tools such as digging sticks or hoes." (Haviland) Crops make up about 75-80% of the society's food source. These crops, which are planted in gardens that are cleared approximately every 2-3 years, include: sweet potatoes, sugar cane, cotton, corn, tobacco and plantains. Overall they plant a variety of about 60 different crops.
Gathering is also a source of food for the Yanomamo. This includes nuts, shellfish, insect larvae, 15 varieties of wild honey and over 500 species of plants.

Fishing is another source of food. This process is shared by men, women and children. They pound certain vines into a liquid which paralyzes the fish who float to the surface and are scooped into baskets.

Hunting is a male dominated activity and considered a prestigious skill. He uses bows and arrows which are tipped in the carare poison. This accounts for 10% of the culture's food. Animals hunted include peccary, tapir, deer and monkey.

One item of note is that a hunter never eats his own kill, instead it is shared with his family and friends. He will be given meat by another hunter in return.
There are certain tasks that are divided along gender lines. Men handle weapon making, hunting and felling trees for a new garden. Women spin cotton and plait baskets.

Shared tasks (although they often fall to the women) include weeding, harvesting crops, and collecting fuel or water. Children are included in the shared tasks as soon as they are able. Because of the varied diet that they consume, the Yanomamo are not deficient in their nutritional intake.

Because the Yanomamo are a horticultural community there are frequent surpluses from their variety of crops. These are used to trade with other villages or outside of the Yanomamo community all together. This is important as they are a non-monetary cultural system. Trade between tribes is used not only to acquire goods, but to also build alliances between the groups.


Marriage and Kinship:


Marriage:
For the Yanomamo marriage is typically monogamous or polygynous. Marriages must be between bilateral cross cousins and are arranged. (Ironically, parallel cousins are forbidden to marry.)

Marriage arrangement helps to develop ties between different villages and strengthen family ties. Females marry sometime after their first "yobomou" or menses to slightly older men.

Newlyweds usually live with the bride's parents for a number of years to allow the husband to perform bride service, which is interesting as the husband is not allowed to interact with his mother-in-law and is subservient to his father-in-law. After completion of bride service the couple go to live in the husband's family shabono. The Yanomamo have a relaxed view of sex, marriage and divorce. There is an institutionalized type of homosexuality that exists between men.

Kinship:
Yanomamo is a patrilineal society. The term "mashi" is used to describe that line.

The matrilineal line is not discarded upon marriage, just given less emphasis. Society is broken down into monogamous and polygynous family groups. (Although the shabono-shared living space-can include extended family as well.) The husband could be considered the authority figure within the family.

There is much evidence to support the idea that the relationship between men and women is much more egalitarian than previously believed. (For example: Men frequently use violence when interacting with their wives. Evidence has shown that women can be equally violent in regards to their husbands.) Cross-cousin kinships are more intimate than parallel cousin relationships. This is similar to the Iroquois kinship system.



Social and Political Organization:


Social Organization:
The Yanomamo are a fairly egalitarian society. The main component of the social structure is the kin group. While kin is passed down the male side, that is not to say that woman are submissive to what many scholars describe as "male dominance." There are certain tasks that men and women each perform, but the majority of the tasks are shared. Most resources are shared within the community and each group exists along the same economic or status level. Status is individually earned by bravery during raids, oratory skills and mastery of shamanism.

Political Structure:
The political leader of the Yanomamo is the village "headman." He typically comes from the largest patrilineal group.

There can be multiple headmen depending on the size of the village. Their main task is to settle disputes between members of the village. Major decisions are made collectively with the adult males, although the women have quite a bit of subtle influence in those decisions as well. It is not compulsory for an individual to go along with the group if they choose not to. There are no formal sanctions or punishments. Disapproval of a member's behavior is expressed through gossip and other non-direct methods.

Role of Violence:
One example of violence that the Yanomami utilize is the use of raids or revenge killings. These occur when one village attacks another for the death of a member. This can contribute to a continuous cycle of attacking-killing-revenge-attacking. These raids are one way that a man can improve his status within the community.

Another example of violence involves domestic abuse. Men will use physical violence against their wife. This can also occur in the reverse with the woman physically attacking their husband. This can contribute to a disintegration of their relationship. (Although their divorce rate is lower than modern western societies.)



Religion and Art:


Religion:
The Yanomami practice a form of Animism. A god called Omama put all the forests, trees, animals and people on the Earth. They believe that all living things (the plants, animals and people) contain a spirit called xapiripe. A core tenet of their belief is that animals used to be human, but they did wrong and because of that behavior they became animals.

Taking a hallucinogen called Yopo allows them to manipulate the spirits and lets the spirits enter their body. Shamans also use this drug to connect with the spirits. They are responsible for helping someone who is in need, healing the sick, casting spells and sending demons to infect an enemy. Only men can be shamans who help rid the hekura spirits that infect and sicken a person. A village could have multiple shamans.

Yanomamo people believe that there are 4 levels of the universe.
The top level is duku ka misi which is empty now, but the ancients used to be there. This level has no effect on the Yanomamo's lives.
The next level down is hedu ka mis (hedus) or otherwise known as the Sky Level. This level is where the spirits of the deceased stay. It is the ideal place to go after death.
The third level is Earth or hei ka misi.
The bottommost level is hei ta bebi. This underworld is where the bad spirit Amahi-teri resides-which is the spirit that brings misfortune and harm to the humans.

Death of a loved-one brings about a special ceremony called "Reahu." Upon the person's death they are cremated. The bones are crushed and the ashes are saved and put in special jars.

After a mourning period of approximately a year, a special meal is made, the ashes are mixed in and the food is consumed by the mourners. This ceremony is the process that the deceased needs to reach the hedus level of the universe as well as being a sign of respect for that person. This spirituality is a key component of the daily life of the group.

Art:
In the Yanomami artistic expression often coincides with spiritual practice. The two are intertwined. Visual arts include decorative baskets and weaponry such as quivers, arrows, spears and blow guns. Yanomamo also decorate themselves.

Women will use sticks to pierce multiple places on their face, while men will do the same to their ears-but to a lesser extent. Both men and women use vegetable dye to color their skin. Different colors can have specific representational meaning.

Although they do not have or use instruments, music is a component of their culture. Singing and chanting are utilized in different ceremonies, especially by a shaman. There is also much emphasis placed on the natural sounds that surround the village in the forest. To listen click below:

Sounds of the Yanomamo

For the Yanomamo each sound can express meaning or foretelling of events to come. The art of storytelling also holds great status for the Yanomamo. Oratory, chanting and myth-telling are important components to the culture.


Conclusion:


Thanks in part to the discovery of gold on their land, the Yanomamo have been severely affected by the influx of outsiders into their world. Gold miners, and others, have introduced diseases such as malaria which has decimated the population. Villages are often the target of extinction and massacres (a form of genocide) which the governments turn a blind eye to. Their game has been scared away and their environment has been poisoned with mercury which has negatively impacted their ability to sustain their people, many of whom have turned to begging or trading sex for food. The culture of the Yanomamo is in danger of being destroyed. They are a population that has been reduced to living in poverty.

The influx of outsiders has brought formal education to the Yanomamo, including writing.

It has introduced western-style medicine-which can help combat some of the negative impact that has been brought in by outsiders.

The Yanomamo are not an influential culture in the world sphere. They have little power and their right to live as they have for generations is not necessarily supported by the governments in the countries that they reside in. They have been forced to integrate aspects of the outside world into their culture. Whether this can be accomplished in a healthy manner for them remains to be seen.




Bibliography:


Chagnon, Napoleon A. “Doing Fieldwork among the Yanomamo.” Yanomamo:Fierce People. 1992. Fourth Edition. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 5-31. Web. April 2012. <www.anthroprof.org>

Chagnon, Napoleon A. “Life Histories, Blood Revenge, and Warfare in a Tribal Population”. Science, New Series. 239.4843 (Feb. 26, 1988) 985-992. Web. May 2012. <www.jstor.org/stable/1700080>

Evans D. M. D., Harry and Cleber Bldegain Pereira, C. D. “Oclusivon and Attrition of the Primitive Yanomami Indians of Brazil.” Dental Clinics of North America-Symposium on an Alterable Centric Relation in Dentistry. 19.3 (July 1975) Web. April 2012. <www.cleber.com.br/evan.html>

Everyculture. Raymond Hames. n.d. n.p. May 2012. <www.everyculture.com/South-America/Yanomam.html>

Hagen, Edward H., Raymond B. Hames, Nathan M. Craig, Matthew T. Lauer and Michael E. Price. “Parental Investment and Child Health in a Yanomamo Village Suffering Short-Term Food Stress.” J.Biosc. Sci. 33 (2001) 203-528. Web. May 2012. <www.unl.edu/rhames/ms/cejal.pdf>

Hames, Raymond. “Yanomamo; Varying Adaptations of Foraging Horticulturalists.” Just in Time Anthropology. 1995. Prentice Hall. Web. April 2012. <www.unl.edu>

Herzog-Schroder, Gabriele. “Yanomami.” Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender. 2003. Khuuwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers. New York, NY. 967-974. Web. April 2012. <www.scribd.com/doc/76969810/101/Yanomami>

Kimmel, Michael S. “The Gendered Society.” Oxford University Press. March 16, 2000. p 61. Web. May 2012. 

LLmap. “Yanomamo”. Web. April 2012. <llmap.org/languages/guu.html>

Indian Cultures. n.d. Hands Around the World. Web.  April 2012. <indian-cultures.com>

Olsen, Dale A. “The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: The United States and Canada.” Ellen Koskoff. 1998. Garland Publishing. 169-171. 

O’Neil, Dr. Dennis. “Marriage Rules: Part II”. Anthro.Palomar. Palomar College. June 2006. Web. May 2012. <http://anthro.palomar.edu/marriage/marriage_4.htm>

O’Neil, Dr. Dennis. “Patterns of Subsistence.” Anthro.Palomar. Palomar College. Dec. 2011. Web. May 2012. <http://anthro.palomar.edu/subsistence/default.htm>

“Save the Amazon Rainforest”. 2004. Amazon-Rainforest. April 2012. <www.amazon-rainforest.org>

Schwimmer, Brian. “The Yanomamo.” University of Manitoba. 1995. University of Manitoba. Web. April 2012. <www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/tutor/case_studies/yanomamo/>

Sponsel, Leslie E. “Yanomami: An Arena of Conflict and Aggression in the Amazon.” Aggressive Behavior. 24 (1998) 97-122. University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. Web. April 2012. <nku.edu/~humed1/darkness_in_el_dorado/documents/0603.pdf>

Survival International. 2012. Survival International Charitable Trust. Web. May 2012. <www.survivalinternational.org>

Tavil, Pedro Luiz. “The Status of Infectious Disease in the Amazon Region.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 15.4 (April 2009) Web. April 2012. <wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/15/4/09-0169_article.htm>

“Yanomami Sound.” All Things Considered. NPR. (Sept. 2003) Web. May 2012. <www.npr.org/templates/story/story/.php?storyID=1435651>

“Yanomamo.” Kansas State University. n.d. Web. May 2012. <http://ksuanth.wetpaint.com/page/yanomamo>

Art as a Culture

1. Functions of Early Art:

a. The cave artists of the Lascaux caves could have created their works for many reasons. Thankfully for us, they are a lasting record of a long-ago time period. It gives modern researchers a window into life from thousands of years ago. It is challenging to pinpoint the motive behind the artists' renderings. They could have been created for magical or spiritual purposes. Because there are abundant depictions of animals, the paintings and engravings could have been a way to appease the animal spirits, to tell a story or even to be a record that can be passed down to future generations. 

b. I believe that there were so many paintings of animals because in one way or another animals were a central part of these people's lives. Their livelihood and survival was dependent on the meat that was acquired through hunting. The culture could have held animals up to a higher plane or there could have been a taboo in regards to painting people. (Considering there was just a single human figure in the cave.)

c. These paintings can tell us that the population spent time in the area of the caves. They could have been a dwelling and protection from the elements, especially during winter. They also demonstrate the symbolic thought that the paleolithic people possessed.
d. Because of the location of the caves, many of them would have been difficult to reach or even to move in and out of smoothly. They are thought to have multiple entrances which would give them better access considering many areas of the cave were 100 meters above the valley floor.
e. Like I stated above, a function of this form of art could have been spiritual in nature. If the culture revered the animals that it painted, this could be a way of honoring them. This artwork could also be decorative in nature. The caves could have been the location for certain religious rituals and these paintings and engravings could have served as decoration for or even been part of the rituals. A third possibility could be documentation of certain aspects of the people's lives. This documentation could include important hunts, ceremonies or even stories that are important within the culture.



2. Commonalities in Function:


For the individual in modern times, art can play many roles. It can serve as a source of education (studying historical pieces), recording of historical record (such as in photography), serve a religious or spiritual need and it can give pleasure to both the viewer and the creator of the piece. All of these functions could possibly be applied to the art from Lascaux Caves. The variety of depictions that were created in the cave demonstrates that there could be a multitude of functions that it served over time.



3. Favorite Art

My favorite art form: Photography

Learning Photography

a. Photography can serve many functions. One of the most popular is to record a moment in time to preserve for enjoying later or to pass down to younger generations. It is a way of capturing something that the person wants to remember. 

b. There is a culture that surrounds the art of photography. There are certain preferences for cameras, with most professionals preferring Canon or Nikon brands. There are vocabulary words that only a photographer would understand, mostly referring to pieces of equipment or ways to utilize photography software such as Photoshop. A lot of the culture involves the type and style of the equipment, such as bags, filters, lenses and such. Then there are also different cultures that are related to the different photo-hosting websites. 

c. This art form benefits society by creating a historical record not just for private individuals but for society in general. It can be detrimental though when the photographer does not just capture what is going on, but interferes with it and influences it in a negative way. An example of this would be paparazzi who go to extreme lengths to capture a shot of a celebrity. 

Politics and Violence

Rules or Laws:


One of the main differences between the Yanomamo and Western cultures in regard to killing involves the idea of revenge. While the idea of taking the life of the person who killed a family member in the United States or other western culture is frowned upon, as well as illegal, in the Yanomamo culture it can raise a person's status. If a member of their kin group is killed, it is up to them to take the life of the person who did the killing. Western cultures are dependent on laws, courts, judges and juries to punish the perpetrator. If a westerner killed their kin's killer, they too would be processed through the justice system.

Revenge Killings:


If a dispute occurs within a village it is typically handled with yelling, aggressive body language, slapping, fighting with clubs, axes and machetes. It sometimes escalates to utilizing the use of a bow and arrow. If a death occurs the village will divide and raiding between the two groups in the name of "revenge" will commence. These fights typically begin with an argument over an issue with a woman. (infidelity, jealousy etc.) The raiding party's women will consume some of the ashes of the deceased and the men will go off to the other group. The target is the perpetrator of the death, but any other member will suffice. They will often kill the first person they come across and then run back to their village, but may kill more if opportunity arises.

Unokais vs. Non-Unokais:

The benefits of being a Unokais are numerous. The first is that they have greater status or esteem within their village and outer community. This can help them procure wives and even increase their reproductivity. A man could choose to participate in a revenge killing for the fact that his culture values that ideal. In Chagnon's study most men who killed only did so once.
 Because aggression or fierceness is prized in Yanomamo culture, it might be extrapolated that there were not any benefits to being a non-Unokais, a man who has not killed during a raid. One of the benefits though is the stopping of the revenge-killing cycle. Since it is highly possible that a man is related to a member of another village or community, this could escalate the cycle if his kin is killed.

Influence of Revenge Killing:


Political Structure: Revenge killings help to maintain the political structure of the culture. It unites the village in a common cause against a shared enemy. When they are acting as a group it is strengthening the ties that hold their village together. It does become more complex when the raids involve villages that have a shared kinship with some of the men. There may be divided loyalties, and that may cause an individual to not participate in the raid. If this occurs too frequently, the political structure of the village could be weakened.
Social Status & Organization: When a member of the village is killed, usually a kin member, the social structure of the group can be negatively impacted since they have lost a member of their family. If the dispute began within the village and then split, the group now has fewer members to participate in the subsistence of the village. Those who participate in the revenge killings gain status which can propel them to a higher position in the village.
Kinship: Since outside villages frequently contain family members, both immediate and more distant, revenge killings can negatively impact the familial relationships. Connections within the village can also be diminished when an individual does not participate in a raid on a village that has close kin of his. His status may go down within the village because of his refusal to participate.
Marriage & Reproduction: Revenge killings can elevate a man's status to the point where he is seen as excellent marriage material. The Yanomamo practice polygyny, so he may procure multiple wives which will increase the amount of children that he fathers. Having multiple wives and children will also increase his standing in the village.


Response to Article: 
In Western culture killing another person, except for legitimate war or in self defense, is considered an abomination. We need laws against it because it happens anyways and for many of the same reasons that are the motive for revenge killing raids seen in the Yanomamo. Western society focuses on punitive punishment to dissuade members from committing "anti-social" acts. It utilizes laws against murder as "taking the law into ones own hands" is negatively looked upon. It is interesting, though, that many times capital punishment, which could be described as sanctioned revenge killing, is used as a punishment method in cases of murder. The notions of vengeance or retribution are universal. It is the laws and belief in the system of justice in Western culture that keeps most people from committing a revenge killing when a loved one is harmed.

Kinship

Interviewee:

I interviewed my Grandmother (my father's mother) Viola Irene Hart. She was born on December 16, 1921 in the small town of Chariton, Iowa. She is of, mainly, English and Irish ancestry, and was raised as a Catholic. Her family was quite wealthy in this area of Iowa until the stock market crash of 1929. This event impacted her childhood and family to a great extent. Their family lost everything, including the restaurant that they ran in the town of Georgetown, IA. Her father ended up going into mining and the family moved to Darkspring, WY. She enjoyed it there and the family had enough money to feed all 9 children, but they had to leave after less than 3 years due to the deteriorating health of her mother who could not take the high altitude. Her father John ("Daddy") then worked as a miner in the natural gas fields of Iowa. The family struggled financially and her Daddy began to drink. His alcoholism and resulting destructive behavior eventually led to her parents' divorce in 1935 when she was 14. The divorce caused a dissonance between her family and the church which changed how she practiced her religion. She still does not attend services to this day, but calls herself "Catholic." She met my Grandfather, at a dance in Lucas Corner, IA. He had gone to school with her older sister Eileen and asked her to dance, even though he did not know how. They married in 1941 and migrated to California after World War II where jobs were more plentiful and better paid. Dancing remained a central part of their marriage for the next 69 years.


Methods:

I conducted the interview over the phone as my Grandmother lives in South San Francisco, CA. The interview took just over 4 hours. At the beginning of the interview I explained my goals and the type of information that I needed. We started with her earliest memory and then continued forward through her life and the family record that she stores in her mind. As my Grandma loves to talk, getting her to open up was not an issue at all. The hardest part was keeping her on track since she would end up telling me side stories about certain relatives that were not a necessary part of the interview, but were very interesting. Since I have heard about, if not met, the majority of the people who were discussed it was beneficial to the interview to be able to visually place where they belonged in the family tree. If I did not know the interview subject, I would not have that advantage. One other issue that occurred was that at the age of 90, she occasionally forgets simple words for items or objects, so I had to balance whether to provide them or wait for her to come up with the correct term. If I was interviewing someone outside of my family I feel that I would need to ask more basic questions to get a better understanding of their familial culture. Knowing the interviewee aided me in knowing which questions to ask.


Patterns:

 The main pattern in this part of the family is that the majority of the people get married. Those who do not, are the exception. Even those folks who divorce typically end up marrying again.
 Growing up, Viola spent most of her time with her grandmothers, mother and sisters. This is not to say that she was or is not emotionally close to the males in the family, but she quantitatively spends less actual time with the males. (This does not apply to her husband.)
 Another commonality that is evident is the great number of family members who were either part of the military or other governmental agency. The majority of the men were in the Navy or Marines, with just a single gentleman who joined the Army. There were also several members who were involved in clandestine activities with the CIA.
 For the time and given their financial constraints, a large portion of Viola's siblings attended and graduated from college. Many attended using the GI bill after World War II.
 The family of Viola who left Iowa mostly migrated west to California or Arizona.
 Children appear to be central to the family. Most adult members have at least one, if not multiple children. Although Viola came from a family with many children (9), the following generations did not have nearly as many.
 Women in this branch of the family frequently work outside of the home while also raising young children. Viola, her mother, her daughter and many of her sisters had the need to have outside jobs to help support their families.
 Most members that Viola discussed married within their same or a similar ethnicity and religious background. Holidays are family events and the family gets together frequently just to spend time with each other. Events consist of excessively loud talking, children running through the house (usually Viola's), discussion of bodily functions or medical procedures over a meal and large quantities of sparkling wine.
  Younger members of the group are treated as respectfully as the older members. There is no differentiation between the generations. Individual successes are celebrated. Deaths of a family member are used as an occasion to celebrate that person's life.
 The family also "adopts" friends as honorary family members.


Perspectives:

Because of Grandma's propensity to talk, I became quite familiar with the extended family before I ever remembered meeting them. Last year upon the passing of my Grandad "Dick" many family members came from out of state to remember and celebrate him. It was nice to put the faces to the names that my grandmother always discussed. I may have met many of these people when I was a child, but this was the first time I remember doing so as an adult. This assignment helped to clarify where everybody fit in the family tree. On this side of my family my grandmother is considered the matriarch. She is the one who makes decisions and influences the younger family members. As one of those younger family members we grant her that privilege since she has over 90 years of experience of living on Earth. She has no problem letting the family know what her opinion is regarding any subject. That is pretty much true for all the women in the family though. History has demonstrated that it is the women that rule the family and decides what direction it is going to take. I am not sure if the family is made up of strong-minded women, or if the men just learn to acquiesce at an early age. This is not to say that the men are wimps. They will stand their ground when they so choose. It just seems that they choose less often than the women of the family. Women work outside of the home either for financial support of the children or to fulfill their own desires. This practice is not looked down on within the family, most likely because it is the norm.
When members marry into the family they are treated the same as those who are born into it. There is no difference and the family is very accepting of the new-comers. While my older family members are not perfect and have endured struggles to overcome prejudices that were taught to them by the society that they lived in at the time, they are a welcoming and loving group. Holidays are filled with not just relatives, but many friends of family members who do not have family of their own to spend them with.

Spending time with the family is never boring at the Hart's. I learned through this project that although the members may be kooky and dysfunctional in their own ways, they are really an educated and accomplished group. I am very lucky that I still have my grandmother and several of her siblings to pass down the memories and stories of the past that I am too young to remember.


Here is the branch of the family that was covered in this project. 67 members strong!

Here is the interviewee's family of origin:
(Grandparents, Parents and siblings)

Part 1 of EGO's siblings and their families:

Part 2:

My family of origin with EGO as the Matriarch and Grandmother: