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>