Unlock document.
This document is partially blurred.
Unlock all pages and 1 million more documents.
Get Access
The Yanomamo (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology)
By Napoleon A. Chagnon
The Yanomamo are a tribe who lived in Venezuela and Brazil, in the Amazon basin. As late as
1964, they remained with little interference from the outside world. They lived a primitive
lifestyle in small villages deep in the jungle. In 1951, an anthropologist, James Baker, began
communicating with some of the outer Yanomamo tribes, and then in 1964 he was joined by
Napoleon A. Chagnon. This book records Chagnon’s experiences and findings during his time of
living with the Yanomamo people. Chagnon spent 64 months with Yanomamo villagers from
1964 to 1995. He lived with the people and did field research to document their way of life. He
had many experiences while living among the Indians and saw everything from wife beating to
the village being raided by other Yanomamo tribes.
In 1964 Chagnon traveled by boat for two and a half days before he reached the field
headquarters for a group of missionaries that were stationed near the outer band of Yanomamo
tribes. Chagnon met James Baker at the headquarters and Baker introduced him to the closest
village.
Chagnon described the conditions as so hot and muggy that his clothing clung to him and gnats
were biting him all over. He became very nervous as they approached the village for the first
time. When they entered the village Chagnon was shocked to see several ugly, naked, sweaty
men with slimy green snot hanging from their noses. The villagers were holding arrows pointed
at the two intruders. The villagers put down their weapons when they realized it was Baker and
began chanting and welcomed the visitors in. The two arrived just as a battle with another
village ended. The battle was because seven women had been abducted. Later, the Bisaasi-teri
managed to get five of the seven women back. Chagnon experienced about 25 raids in his first
15 months in the jungle.
Baker suggested they sleep across the river the first night, because it would be safer. Scared to
death and not sure why he chose to do this Chagnon started to regret coming to the jungle and
did not look forward to the next day and months to come. He persevered, however, and began
his stay with the tribe. As he worked, he moved deeper and deeper into the jungle, going into
never before explored territories.
Chagnon learned quickly that it was too much work to keep up with his normal cleaning and
cooking routines. He decided he could either spend all his time cleaning and cooking or doing
field research, but he couldn’t do both. The Yanomamo were very curious about Chagnon’s food
and often begged for it. He quickly figured out he could describe the food to them in such a way
