Yanomamo: The Fierce People

Chagnon moves from a qualitative to a quantitative examination of Yanomami marriage behavior, examining the situations of men under 35 who are from two related villages, Patanowä-teri and Lower Bisaasi-teri. He uses this particular sample because he was able to obtain the best genealogical information for this age group. He also breaks the marriages into four categories: prescriptive, which follows the prior idealized models; incestuous, which is the marriage to someone of the same patrilineal descent, his mother, or a niece on his mother’s side; alliance or abduction, which includes individuals from an external group; and a catch-all fourth group that includes any marriages that are otherwise unexplainable under Yanomami rules.

Chagnon uses a table to illustrate the results of his collected data, which shows that Patanowä-teri had more prescriptive marriages because of its larger size and resulting autonomy. By contrast, because Lower Bisaasi-teri is smaller and militarily dependent, it requires more alliance marriages with neighboring groups. A table showing the sex ratio of these villages reveals a higher number of men than women. Chagnon attributes this disparity to female infanticide, which is due to the Yanomami preference for male children. This cultural bias also causes men to threaten their wives for not bearing sons; likewise, wives have been known to kill daughters so as not to disappoint their husbands. However, Chagnon also notes that infanticide is performed on both male and female infants if the mother is currently nursing a child. Crude abortions are sometimes performed to avoid having to kill the infant after birth or if the husband suspects infidelity.

Yanomami marriage practices heighten this skewed demographic ratio. Because many of a village’s most powerful men will engage in polygyny and have more than one wife, many men remain unmarried. They also view sexual relationships with pregnant and nursing women as taboo. He notes that, as a result of the lack of unmarried women, young men begin sexual relationships with one another or compete for the attention of already-married women. This results in further tension and violence and can prompt men to look for women to marry in other villages, which was the case for Rerebawä.

Chagnon pivots to discussing Yanomami politics and the development of these relationships. For example, he examines the history of Kaobawä’s village, which dates back to 1940. At that point, the village of Patanowä-teri had not yet split into the current Patanowä-teri, along with Monou-teri and both Upper and Lower Bisaasi-teri. An epidemic killed a number of the villagers, and the friendly neighboring villages belonging to the Shamatari were blamed. The next man from that group to approach the Patanowä-teri was killed, and this triggered a war between the two groups. Later, Patanowä-teri fissioned. The two groups initially parted amicably, but later fights over food theft led to hostility and warfare that continued during Chagnon’s research. In trying to avoid them, Kaobawä’s group ended up temporarily allying with one of the Shamatari villages. This relationship ended once the village of the initial murdered man became involved. They then sought refuge with the Mahekodo-teri but had to pay the price of ceding women to their protectors. The Mahekodo-teri also planned to kill the men and abduct the remaining women; this plan was only delayed by external fighting.

After living with the Mahekodo-teri for a year, Kaobawä’s group split again due to internal conflict and established separate villages. They made their final split during a move a few years later to be closer to foreigners who were part of a malaria research team and could give them steel tools. Chagnon notes that this final fissioning between the Upper and Lower Bisaasi-teri was incomplete because both groups jointly occupied a village during the dry season. Chagnon also outlines some of Kaobawä’s other alliances, such as the Paruritawa-teri, which allowed them to finally get their revenge on the Shamatari. The consequences led to the Paruritawa-teri becoming dependent on Kaobawä’s village. Chagnon notes that knowing this history between villages is vital to understanding the present alliance patterns. The discrepancy between marriage rules and actual practice in Lower Bisaasi-teri results from its political advantages over its allies. Politics and the alliances necessary for group survival govern the reality of Yanomami marriage.

Chagnon explores how the Yanomami divide the necessary daily labor, noting that in reality, the villages are far more flexible than the societal rigidity that he presented in prior sections. The strictest, he remarks, comes from the societal division along gender lines, which shows a strong difference in status. He reiterates the societal preference for masculinity. Girls are expected to participate in daily tasks before boys. Required duties include caring for their younger siblings and assisting their mothers in household chores. The girls have no say in who they marry, and they are sometimes given away to their husbands before they reach puberty. The women’s most common daily chores include collecting water and gathering firewood, which sometimes requires traveling for miles when a cleared area is depleted of wood. They are also expected to immediately respond to their husbands’ needs without hesitation. Domestic violence is both common and expected. The men inflict physical punishment on their wives for perceived shortcomings. Punishments range from short beatings to more severe forms of abuse. The men view this violence as a way to showcase their masculinity, while the women perceive it as a way to measure how much their husbands care about them. Chagnon reiterates that women prefer to marry within their village so that their brothers can protect them if their husbands become too violent. While women are subject to a high degree of abuse—sometimes to the point of severe injury or death—they still have some influence in warfare and politics. They are always at risk of being kidnapped by other villages, so they sometimes unite to convince the men to act against potential enemies. Women who are considered “old” are immune to raiding and can therefore travel and serve as messengers with impunity; such women can also recover bodies from enemy territory.

The next area of division is between children and adults. Young boys are allowed and even encouraged to enact violence on others. Girls, on the other hand, are allowed a small amount of freedom when very young but are put to work by age 10. Chagnon describes the ritualized confinement that girls undergo during their first menstruation, after which they are fully eligible for marriage. The transition of boys into adulthood has less ritual and a less rigid timeline. Children are also at greater risk than adults of being harmed by supernatural dangers. As noted earlier, enemy shamans will send their demons to consume children’s noreshi, resulting in death. The Yanomami also believe that a child’s undeveloped soul can escape when they cry, so crying is discouraged. As a result of this spiritual danger, many of the shamans’ duties are focused on protecting or curing children.

Chagnon finally returns to the subject of Yanomami kinship, which covers both social and biological relationships. Each category of relationship covers different expected social norms. Newcomers can be brought in by extending kinship ties. For example, a new person can adopt an existing individual as a “father” and treating the rest of those connected by kinship accordingly. Chagnon also returns to the differences between relationships by blood or by marriage. The former often becomes weaker over time, while the latter becomes stronger through further marriage exchanges. This strengthening along marriage lines also strains blood connections by putting brothers into direct competition.

Chagnon illustrates the daily lives of the Yanomami using Kaobawä’s village as an example. He notes that the men each build their section of the shabono. Although all dwellings share a roof, an individual family owns each section. The Yanomami have their own hammocks, although Bahimi keeps Ariwari with her as he is still too young to have his own hammock.

Village activity begins before dawn, and the noise of some people leaving to relieve themselves wakes the rest. He also notes that secret sexual relationships are often planned for this time, as the involved individuals have a pretense of leaving. However, this is also the most common time for raids, so if a village is at increased risk, people will only venture out in groups. Men leave for hunting before dawn as well. Chagnon also describes the importance of tobacco-chewing in Yanomami culture. All ages and genders participate in it and begin first thing in the morning. The scarcity of tobacco in a village indicates its relative poverty. Work in the gardens takes up the morning hours. People break at midday and resume their activities in the late afternoon. The women accompany the men with their work in the garden so their husbands can watch them. Young children stay with their mothers while older children go off to explore. An afternoon without garden work often involves the men’s inhalation of hallucinogenic drugs while the women continue to gather firewood. The day’s largest meal is prepared in the evening, featuring plantains and sometimes meat. The animals are roasted whole over the fire. Chagnon emphasizes the importance of sharing meat, with hunters obligated to do so to avoid accusations of stinginess. The Yanomami eat with their hands, usually in hammocks, but sometimes around a communal pot. The fires are readied when night arrives, and the village entrance is sealed. The village usually becomes quiet after dark, with everyone sleeping close to the fire, but sources of sound can come from mourning, from shamans chanting to heal the sick, or from disputes.

Chagnon concludes the section by delving into the differences in status regarding village activities. He uses Rerebawä and Kaobawä as examples. Despite being married, Rerebawä does not consider himself an actual village resident. Therefore, he does not participate in gardening and has more free time which he uses to hunt. He uses this frequent hunting and his generosity with the meat to cover for his lack of participation in other expected obligations. He wants to return to his village as soon as possible, while his in-laws want him to stay to provide for them later in life.

Kaobawä is older and is the village headman; as such, he carries more significant responsibilities. Unlike Rerebawä, Kaobawä also actively participates in gardening and demonstrates a higher commitment to his family. Chagnon portrays him as a wise and discerning leader who acts for the well-being of the villagers, often intervening to prevent potential conflicts. Chagnon outlines an example, when a group of Kaobawä’s brothers-in-law came to him for protection. Paruriwa, an ambitious man in the village, sought to gain influence by killing the men. However, Kaobawä deterred him by saying he would defend them, then using Chagnon to smuggle them to safety. Chagnon contrasts Kaobawä’s calm, modest leadership style with the aggressive, ambitious nature of Paruriwa. Chagnon further details Kaobawä’s role as headman in handling conflicts, whether intervening in situations of domestic violence or scouting for potential raiders by himself. Chagnon acknowledges that Kaobawä’s authority is situational; he steps up when needed and resumes his regular daily routine afterward. Despite the transient nature of his leadership, Kaobawä remains a respected figure in the eyes of the villagers, and they turn to him when situations require mediation.