Yanomamo People of the Rainforest Essay Example For Students

Yanomamo: People of the Rainforest Essay Located in the Amazon Basin of Southern Venezuela and Northern Brazil, the Yanomamo are an indigenous group numbering close to 23,000. They utilize slash and burn horticulture, hunting and gathering to survive within their ecosystem. Napoleon Chagnon termed the group, fierce people, citing their numerous disputes within non-allied villages. Aside from their periodic warfare, they have managed to build and sustain their unique culture through adaptations to their environment for generations. Family Organization Yanomamo families may live together as simply nuclear, polygnous, or extended (Ramos 1995, 188). Each house may have somewhere between one to six family compartments (Ramos 1995, 36). Alcida Rita Ramos explains that the nuclear family is very often so entangled in the web of kinship that, in order to define it, it is necessary to go through relatives who are primary neither to the husband nor to the wife (1995, 188). She states, the wife may be the mother of a mans children, the daughter of his mothers brother, and the daughter of his fathers sister (1995, 188). Frank A Salamone further explains the confusing kinship system they maintain by explaining that children of siblings of the opposite sex on both mothers and fathers side is the preferred marriage termed bilateral cross-cousin marriage (1997, 40). Apparently, another explanation for the difficulty in defining direct and indirect kin among the Yanomamo is in part due to their use of Teknonymy (Salamone 1997, 42). Ramos explains that Teknonymy does not allow for the use of personal names, meaning individuals are referred to, for example, as daughter of Suli or husband of Suli (1995, 188). In families, men do outrank women in status (Salamone 1997, 48). Women have little, if anything, to say about to whom they are married since marriages are often arranged for them before puberty (Salamone 1997, 40). Marriages are viewed as a mechanism to set up and strengthen relationships between family groups, though men are actually allowed to beat their wives (Salamone 1997, 40). Political Organization leader Their are approximately 22,500 Yanomamo spread among roughly 225 villages in the Amazon Basin (Salamone 1997, 34). Each village acts autonomously, but has alliances with other villages that carry on warfare periodically with disputing villages (Salamone 1997, 47). Salamone explains that no single person leads a Yanomamo village and political decisions are made by individual villages by consensus (1997,47). He further explains that though a number of researchers refer to the Yanomamo as an egalitarian society, the Yanomamo see themselves as more of an achievement based society in which people may gain prestigious status, though no one person can speak for the group (1997, 47). To support this claim, Ramos identifies the Yanomamo community as its most meaningful political unit, with the village as its territorial base (1995, 109). Interesting to note also, is Salamones argument that trade acts as an integral part of their political process. He explains that trade helps insure peace between otherwise independent villages and provides a stimulus to the Yanomamos main political forum, the intervillage feast where many political issues are resolved through trade and marriage arrangements (1997, 48). Physical Geography and Climate map The Yanomamo live in the tropical rainforests of Brazil and Venezuela. Their villages are centered around Sierra Parima and range east to west from the Rio Orinoco and its tributaries to the tributaries of Uraricoera-Branco (Smoles 7). This region is fairly mountainous with altitudes ranging from 374 to more than 7700 feet above sea level. The average temperature is 80 degree Fahrenheit. The maximum temperature is about 91 degrees, while monthly averages range from 76 degrees in July to 84 degrees in March (Smoles 34). Average annual rainfall exceeds 140 inches, which is evenly distributed throughout the year. Most heavy rains tend to occur after 3pm, but it rains at all hours of the night and day (Smoles 34). The rainforests that the Yanomamo inhabit include both riverine lowland and tropical highland. Both habitat subtypes contain huge vine-covered trees and are relatively free of underbrush. Warm and damp all year round, these forests smell faintly of decaying organic matter and are filled with the constant drone of insects and frequent calls of birds and monkeys (Smoles 9). pretty view Subsistence The top soil of these tropical rainforests is an acidic and nutrient poor type of soil called laterite. Without the protective shading of forest vegetation, it quickly dries; irreversibly clumping into hard masses called ironstone. Erosion and the leaching of minerals also endanger the thin tropical soil (Moore, et al). To deal with these hazards, the Yanomamo practice shifting cultivation and other soil conservation methods. Although the Yanomamo supplement their diet with wild plant and animal food obtained through hunting and gathering, the bulk of their food comes from agriculture (Smoles 105). Seventy percent of their calories come from plantains (cooked bananas) alone (Smoles 117). The Yanomamo cultivate five major varieties of plantains ranging from red and purple varieties to a pale yellow type. They range in size from 6 to 10 inches long (Smoles 118). Tubers are the second most important crop. Starchy tubers such as New World yams, ocumo, shibujurimo, sweet potatoes, and sweet manioc are the most common varieties. Additionally, the Yanomamo grow bananas, peach palms, avacados, and papaya (Smoles 120). The Yanomamo practice shifting cultivation (Smoles 105). This cycle begins with the selection of a site for a new garden plot. In order to be selected, a site must be ishabena, which means good for growing plantains. In order to be ishabena, the site must be covered with trees that are full height. This prevents old garden sites from being re-cleared too early and allows the forest time to regrow (Smoles 108). When the site is cleared, the large trees are felled, the underbrush is uprooted, and the entire clearing is burnt. The ashes provide fertilizer and the burning kills the remaining plants and any seeds that are in the soil to prevent the immediate regrowth of the vegetation. Greek Theatre in 5th Century BCE EssayThey are already know how to gather wild foods. When families go trekking, they take along the mature crops from their gardens and obtain the rest of their food from wild sources in the forest. The Yanomamos consumption of wild foods increases from 10% of their diet to nearly 70% (Good 61). This also gives them more variety in their diet. Nutritionists stress variety as an essential component of a healthy, balanced diet. The abundance of game increases as the group travels farther from the overexploited land around the village. Hunting on treks provides the Yanomamo with two times more meat than hunting around the villages (Salamone 36). This increased intake of protein is necessary to maintain the health of the group. When living in the village, Yanomamo typically eat small portions of meat only twice a week (Good 63). The rest of their diet consists of garden crops that are high in vitamins and minerals, but lack protein (Good 61). This necessitates that they hunt. When the game supply near the village becomes depleted, the village must go on a trek. eating meat The Yanomamo are known for their fierce, aggressive natures and their frequent violent disputes. Disagreements can erupt at any time within a village or between villages. If a dispute occurs within a village, it is advantageous for the village to separate into two factions, each going on separate treks. This separation gives the groups time to cool down and make peace with each other. The village splits up into smaller groups when trekking even in peacetime because wild foods are widely dispersed and it is easier to forage for a small group (Good 63). War raids can also precipitate a departure on a trek. Often, after a group of warriors returns from a raid, their entire village will leave on a trek to prevent a revenge killing by the victims kin group. Another adaptive advantage of the trekking system is that it enables different groups within the village to explore possible cultivation sites and split off into new village groups. When population pressures become too intense in the old village, it is necessary for the group to split. This may happen when the group gets into a conflict and one portion decides to leave. Otherwise, a group within the village may begin cultivating gardens at a distant site while out on a trek. When their gardens are producing fully, they leave the village and build a new communal village shelter near their new garden site (Good 63). Research has indicated that Yanomamo abandon the adaptive behavior of trekking when conditions change so that it is no longer necessary. Yanomamo who have migrated and settled along rivers now cultivate fields and hunt across the river from their village as well as on their bank. They also have easy access to manufactured goods and learn from outsiders how to obtain new foods such as fish (Good 64). These factors distribute the communitys exploitative activities, enabling them to remain in their village year round. Groups of Yanomamo who have settled along rivers depart on fewer treks than woodland communities. Some villages that have settled along the river do not trek at all. This is evidence that trekking is an adaptive response to the Yanomamos inland rainforest environment. When conditions change, the Yanomamo adapt to maximize their efficiency in their new environment. Risk Management A great deal of research has been done on the Yanomamo which has made them well known among western culture. Salamone explains that their fame has been a valuable weapon in their self-preservation against the inroads of threats from modernization; such as the influx of illegal gold miners and development schemes that would destroy the ecological basis of their lives (1997, 33). Though they clearly did not intend to preserve their lifestyle though their fame, the Yanomamo do have several practices and behaviors that act as mechanisms of risk management, allowing them to regulate population and food availability in order to sustain themselves. As was previously stated, the Yanomamo live among a number of independent villages. Salamone explains that the spacing of the villages allows the amount of game to increase so each village has more available meat for their community (1997, 36). Another highly effective form of risk management is the Trekking they engage in, as was previously discussed. The Yanomamo spend between 40 and 60 percent of their time Trekking during the dry season (Salamone 1997, 36). Aside from helping to keep families together, trekking produces two times more food than if they simply hunted around their gardens (Salamone 1997, 36). Furthermore, trekking allows their fields to continue producing food and allows them to fulfill their protein needs, since their main crops of sweet potatoes, plantains, and bananas do no supply enough protein (Salamone 1997, 37). Polygamy also acts as means for survival, as it helps the villages increase the amount of help for cultivating and hunting the lands, and also keeps population up in times of warfare (Salamone 1997, 38). On the other hand, warfare can actually serve as a function of risk management because it can keep population down in the face of scarce protein supply (Salamone 1997, 38). Salamone states, warfare contributed to the Yanomamos ability to survive within the limitation of their ecosystem (1997, 38). The family and political organization of the Yanomamo distinguish them as a truly unique culture. Their subsistence techniques, adaptive behaviors such as trekking, and risk management strategies have helped them maintain their culture for many generations. Though their environment is harsh, and the modern world is encroaching on their boundaries, the Yanomamo continue to survive and sustain their culture.