Two Cultural Practices Among The Yanomamo - Essay Example

Task Two cultural practices among the Yanomamo Introduction The Yanomamo people are among the oldest civilizations found in theforests of South America particularly in the rain forests of Brazil and Venezuela. Renowned scholars, such as Chagnon (1967), have portrayed the Yanomamo as a violent people involved in a perennial state of warfare. He describes them as a society constantly “living in a state of chronic warfare” (p. 22). The purpose of this paper is therefore to show that contrary to popular portrayal of the Yanomamo as a community dominated by senseless violence, instances of warfare are only sporadic and waged for specific purposes (Harris, 1979). In expounding on this view, the paper will look at two main cultural practices among the Yanomamo society that shapes their beliefs and practices as a people. Festivals as a cultural practice Festivals play an important role among the Yanomamo people, and are part and parcel of their culture. They are important to the Yanomamo people because they serve both social and political functions. They are held to cultivate and reaffirm friendships among the villages. Feasting among the Yanomamo involves the sharing of meals, which in a larger extent, symbolizes the sharing of goods through trade and other economic practices that are prevalent among the Yanomamo. These festivities are therefore used to form a social bond among the tribes, despite their warring nature, and to honor and appease the spirits of their ancestors. The Yanomamo people practice a lot of festivities and rituals which include hunting rituals, marriage festivals, songs and dance festivals, and the hugely shocking endocannibalist ritual, which involves the consumption of a deceased’s ashes. The absence of formalized or well defined religious festivities among the Yanomamo may be attributed to their form of religion, which is not based upon a supreme being, but rather founded upon nature (Micheli, 2011). The main festivities among the Yanomamo are therefore marriage festivals, hunting festivals, death rituals, and inter-tribal festivities. The Yanomamo people do not have a formalized calendar of their festivities. Festivities are therefore organized on a need arise basis, or upon the happening of a particular event such as death of one of their members, or upon peaceful resolution of inter-tribal disputes. The hunting festival plays an important role among the Yanomamo culture. They practice two main hunting festivals, the “rami” which provides them with meat, and the “heniyomou” which is practiced by the whole community collectively for special guests (Micheli, 2011). The festival is carried out in the evenings and is characterized by songs and dances. Here the young men are required to compose songs amidst laughter from the older members of the society. Whereas the Yanomamo consider marriage to be an important event in their culture, they have no actual marriage ceremonies. The Yanomamo marriage is basically a handing over affair as the suitors were already predetermined by the parents of the girl when she was at a tender age (Micheli, 2011). Such marriages are usually organized as a means of creating alliances with the men and other tribes. Perhaps the most elaborate and well organized festivity/ritual among the Yanomamo is their funeral ceremonies. To the Yanomamo, death is a great source of grief and anger, no matter the age, gender or position of the deceased, to the whole society. This is because they believe the cause of such death results from sorcery or witchcraft from the rival tribes (Fergusson, 2001). They thus mourn their dead with passion, and mark a ritual where they cremate their dead and ingest the remains of the deceased. This form of endocannibalism is a unique feature among the Yanomamo, who believe by ingesting the remains of the dead member of the society they are preserving his spirit within the society. The major significance of these festivities among the Yanomamo was that they acted as social activities where the community could interact (Micheli, 2011). They also played important political functions, such as the dispute resolution between warring villages. On the other hand, the death rituals, contributed significantly to their religious perceptions by symbolizing their faith in honoring the dead and appeasing the spirits of their ancestors. Warfare as a cultural practice Warfare permeates almost every aspect of the Yanomamo daily life. Instances of sporadic warfare and violence are almost an everyday occurrence among these people. It is their warlike and fierce nature that has earned them a reputation of not only being an overly fierce and warlike tribe, but also a barbaric and uncivilized society among the observers of their culture. However, what most of these observers did not understand is that the instances of violence are only sporadic, and warfare is waged for specific purposes which are ingrained in their culture (Harris, 1979). Therefore, it is not uncommon to find chest pounding cultural duels held against the rival villages. Often, these duels would result into fatalities which would then in future result to a vicious cycle of village raids (Chagnon, 1990). The unique characteristic of the Yanomamo warfare is the fact that these wars were neither as a result of xenophobic attacks nor territorial disputes, but rather as a result of exerting physical and political supremacy. This was evidenced by the fact that those the Yanomamo warriors kill are close relatives, with whom they often enjoy close relations with (Fergusson, 2001). In light of the foregoing, it is quite evident that those who participated in warfare did not do so as a result of anarchy, but rather because they felt cajoled to do so by culture and their position in society (Thorpe, 2003). In their preparation for warfare, the Yanomamo people engaged in a few rituals marking the impeding warfare or duels. A common feature for the Yanomamo warriors is to paint their bodies with a black dye before going out to war. The black dye symbolizes the night and death, and their willingness to travel to the next life upon death (Fergusson, 2001). The Yanomamo also engaged in ritualistic duels. These ritualistic duels often took the form of spear throwing, club fights, side-slapping duels and chest pounding. It is thus not uncommon for fatalities to arise from these duels and result to actions of sporadic violence. Whereas for most of the observers of the Yanomamo culture, the Yanomamo are a fierce and barbaric aboriginal tribe, these warlike activities had entrenched meaning to these people. The central significant role of the Yanomamo warfare was the expression of male dominance and masculinity in all aspects of their society. The Yanomamo social structure was based entirely on the males proving themselves in war as warfare played a central role in their culture. The Yanomamo males had to therefore prove their masculinity against fellow warriors in war as this influenced their social status and standing in society. The duels practiced within the community also played a role in the determination of political leadership positions. Warfare also was waged by the Yanomamo to help them secure resources that were scarce within their communities. This included important tools such as steel tools which were in demand due to the growing need for better and more advanced tools for agriculture and weaponry (Fergusson, 2001). The final significance of the Yanomamo warfare was the need to procreate. According to the Yanomamo culture, when the Yanomamo warriors raided rival villages, they would often take the women for child bearing. When they would also come across a couple wandering alone, they would kill the male and take the woman as a wife. In this regard, warfare played a significant role in procreation purposes among the Yanomamo people contributing to the continuity of the society. Conclusion Festivities and warfare are the main cultural practices among the Yanomamo tribe. They play an important role in every aspect of their social and political life, as well as shaping their perception of their environment. However, the current misconception of the Yanomamo as an archaic tribe that lives in anarchy with each other is not entirely true. These cultural activities are therefore evidence of the fact that the Yanomamo people have a social life, that does not involve constant warfare, but also that the warfare is only sporadic and part and parcel of their culture. References Chagnon, N. (1990). Reproductive and somatic conflicts of interest in the genesis of violence and warfare among tribesmen, In The Anthropology of War (ed. J. Haas). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 77–104. Chagnon, N. A. (1967). ‘Yanomamo – the fierce people’ Natural History, 76, pp. 22-31 Ferguson, B. R. (2001). ‘Materialist, cultural and biological theories on why Yanomami make war’ Anthropological Theory Vol 1(1): pp. 99–116 Harris, M. (1979). The Yanomamo and the cause of war in band and village societies. In M.Margolis and W. Carter (Eds.), Brazil: Anthropological Perspectives, Essays in Honor ofCharles Wagley. New York: Columbia University Press pp. 121-132. Micheli, G. (2011). Yanomamo Wedding and Marriage Traditions Retrieved on 28 November 2011 at Thorpe, N.J.I. (2003). Anthropology, archaeology, and the origin of warfare pp. 145-161 Retrieved on 28 November 2011 at Read More