Life Among the Yanomami

John F. Peters (Author)

9781551111933

Paperback / softback, published 1 June 1998

304 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.44 kg

Life Among the Yanomami builds on literature and the author's personal experience of the northern Brazil people, the Mucajai Yanomami, with whom he lived from 1958 to 1967 and whom he has since frequently visited. The result is a rich and well-rounded understanding of this famously isolated people. While considerable detail of traditional way of life is provided, particular attention is devoted to the realities of social change arising from initial exposure to missionaries (of whom the author was one) to the more recent pressures from mining and the intervention of government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Family and village life, health and health care, demography, politicization (that includes Yanomami criticism of Western Society), and on cultural survival are among the key issues explored by Peters-compelling issues for indigenous peoples the world over.

Preface



List of Maps and Figures



Glossary of Terms







1. Yanomami, Xilixana, and the Anthropological Approach



Commonalities and Contrasts



The Clash of Cultures



The Yanomami: Why Study Them?



Cross-Cultural Research: The Academic Component



The Author's Own Journey



Recent Xilixana History: The Basics



 



Part I. The Xilixana Way of Life



2. Field Entry, Language-Learning and Cultural Surprises



The Challenge of Language



Contrasts in Culture: Startling Differences



Data-Gathering: Pursuits of Peril and Pleasure



The Researcher in the Field







3. Village Life and Social Culture: Basic Patterns



Village Composition and Decision-Making



Death, Burial, and Cremation



The Yãimo



Village Fissions, Population, and Distribution







4. Everyday Life: Food and Child Care, Hunting and Fishing



Daily Village Life



Hunting and Fishing



The Products of the Land



Agriculture



The Tools of Life







5. Family and Social Organization



Relationship Terminology and Acceptable Sexual Partners



Marriage



Feuds



Conception and Birthing



Bride Service and Bride Payment



Marriage Fragility and Termination



Gender Roles and the Status of Women







6. Socialization and Life Stages



Stage I: Total Dependence



Stage II: Early Childhood



Stage III: Later Childhood



Stage IV: Premarriage
and Puberty and Marriage



Stage V: Male First Family of Procreation
Female Childbearing and Childrearing



Stage VI: Male Second Family of Procreation
Female Post-Childrearing



Stage VII: Appendage



Summary of Stages in the Life Cycle







7. Myths, Spirits and Magic



Myths



Spirits



Alawalik Substances



Taboos



Part II. Past and Present: The Xilixana Then and Now



8. The Precontact Period: A Time of Isolation



Learning Xilixana History



The Early History



The Xilixana and Other Encounters



Quest for Tools







9. Postcontact History: Enter the Missionaries



Missionary Contact with the Xilixana



Land Expedition to the Aica



The Further History of the Mission Organization



Missionary Relations







10. The Missionary Presence: Translation, Literacy and Social Effects



Daily Life and Mission Tasks



Maintaining the Mission Station



Literacy Teaching



The Impact of Christian Teaching



The Missionary Presence: Mixed Results







11. "
Warfare,"
Raids, and Revenge



The Roots of "
Warfare"




Intervillage Killings



The Motivations for Violence and Warfare



Clashes with Miners



The Cultural Norms of Violence






Part III. Social Change



12. Adaptation in a Precapitalist Society: Agents of Change



The Brazilian Influence



Other Yanomami



Missionaries



Missionaries and the Dynamics of Change







13. Health as an Agent of Change



Xilixana Modes of Treating Illness



Missionaries and Health Care



Health Treatment Facilities and Organizations



The Treatment of Diseases



The Struggle for Yanomami Health Control: Remaining Questions







14. Broader Considerations in the Study of Social Change



The Dynamics of Yanomami Social Change



Change Agents, and Direct Effects



Exchange and Reciprocity







15. Reflections on Social Change among the Yanomami



Culture and Social Change



Social Change: Problems, Bias, and Ethics



A response to Change among the Yanomami



The Clash of Values Revisited



Conclusion



Appendix: Language-Learning



References



Index