Yanomamo by Napolean A. Chagnon is an insightful book that helps educate others about the lives of these tribes’ people. The book is an anthropological case study, showcasing the lives of a tribe of indigenous people who live in the rainforest between the border of Brazil and Venezuela, known as the Yanomamo. Chagnon’s voice is clear throughout the course of the book and the illustrations provide visual insight into what it was like to live with this tribe.
Some of the central themes of the ethnography are the social dynamics within the villages, such as marriage and relationships among families. The conflicts that the Yanomamo face, within their villages and with outside villages is also a theme carried throughout the case study. Furthermore, the political, demographic and ecological processes that govern all of the villages and those that govern individual villages are a prevalent topic. Chagnon’s experiences with the people, the way he was …show more content…
Also that an anthropologist must comprehend the history of the people they are studying in order to understand why they are the society that they are now.
Although the majority of the Yanomamo’s cultural practices are foreign and exotic to me, some of the ones that stood out are the men of the villages tying the foreskin of their penis to the waistring of their loincloth. Also, their practice of endocannibalism, eating portions of their own deceased once they’ve been burned, is an extremely exotic cultural practice.
The main characters who followed the story through its entirety are Napoleon Chagnon himself, along with two of his Yanomamo friends: Kaobawa and Rerebawa. Kaobawa was the headman of the village of Bisaasi-teri. Rerebawa was married into the Bisaasi-teri village, considered an outsider like Chagnon. Both of them helped Napoleon with his fieldwork and aided in
Some of the central themes of the ethnography are the social dynamics within the villages, such as marriage and relationships among families. The conflicts that the Yanomamo face, within their villages and with outside villages is also a theme carried throughout the case study. Furthermore, the political, demographic and ecological processes that govern all of the villages and those that govern individual villages are a prevalent topic. Chagnon’s experiences with the people, the way he was …show more content…
Also that an anthropologist must comprehend the history of the people they are studying in order to understand why they are the society that they are now.
Although the majority of the Yanomamo’s cultural practices are foreign and exotic to me, some of the ones that stood out are the men of the villages tying the foreskin of their penis to the waistring of their loincloth. Also, their practice of endocannibalism, eating portions of their own deceased once they’ve been burned, is an extremely exotic cultural practice.
The main characters who followed the story through its entirety are Napoleon Chagnon himself, along with two of his Yanomamo friends: Kaobawa and Rerebawa. Kaobawa was the headman of the village of Bisaasi-teri. Rerebawa was married into the Bisaasi-teri village, considered an outsider like Chagnon. Both of them helped Napoleon with his fieldwork and aided in