The Yanomamo society is one of the largest ethnic groups that reside in the tropical forests of South America. The tribe lives in 250-300 smaller villages on the border of Brazil and Venezuela. The Yanomamo tribe is the most primitive society in the world. They have managed to live in isolation without interference from the outside world and retain their native patterns . They live in the remotest villages of Brazil. Before 1000 years, the Yanomamo tribe resided along the rivers of Parima and Orinoco. 700 years ago, they split into several divisions and developed different languages. Currently, there are five divisions of the Yanomamo tribe, namely, Schamatari, Sanema, Waika, Guajahbo and Schirischana . The Yanomamo use simple tools for hunting, fishing and collecting things from the forest.
Currently, the Yanomamo society lives in groups of 30 to 100 in large, circular houses called yanos. There is no chief for the community, but each family has a speaker, who speaks on behalf of the people and safeguards their interests. The males are the most dominant ones in the Yanomamo tribe. They control the women and children. The Yanomamo tribe has a doctor whom they call as shaman. The shaman treats diseases and offers protection against evil spirits . Families that have differences of opinion are free to split away from the society and live on their own in the village. For marriages, the Yanomamo tribe follows the principle of exogamy, which insists marriages outside the clan and lineage. In order to prevent incest in the Yanomamo society, the men of the tribe steal women from neighboring villages from time to time.
Women of the Yanomamo society engage themselves in cultivation, fishing and collecting food for the family. They produce around 30 percent of the entire food consumed by the family. One of the remarkable features of the Yanomamo tribe is that a hunter never consumes the meat of an animal killed by him . Instead he shares it to his friends and family and eats the meat he gets in return from them. The Yanomami tribe walks around naked and wears a thin cord around their hips. For special occasions and ceremonies, they decorate feathers on their shoulders. They decorate their face with flowers and small sticks on ears and nose. On the occasion of death of a member in the society, the people of the Yanomamo tribe burn the dead body and demolish the bones into a fine powder .
In the recent years, several missionaries and voluntary organizations have taken keen responsibility in enhancing the living standards of the Yanomamo tribe. One such example is the Salesian missionary, which was setup in the interest of the Venezuelan Yanomamo society. The missionary started schools, cooperative societies and training institutions to improve the social and economic conditions of the Yanomamo society . Due to the depletion of resources from the forests, the Yanomamo tribe is dependent on outside food items and commodities for their living. However, even today, there are several Venezuelan Yanomamo tribes that reside completely isolated from the world. The Salesian missionary is looking forward to move the remote Yanomamo societies to accessible areas on the river banks .
On the other hand, there is a drastic change in the culture, tradition and social organization of the Brazilian Yanomamo society. The change was possible due to the involvement of the Brazilian government in the progress and welfare of the Yanomamo tribe . The Yanomamo tribe is facing serious threats from the illegal gold miners and diggers. The Yanomamo tribe is not immune to common diseases. Transmission of deadly diseases like malaria and pollution of air and water due to mercury deposits has led to serious health conditions in a majority of the people of the Yanomamo tribe . Due to negligible or no access to medical facilities, the mortality rate in the Yanomamo tribe is increasing day by day.
The gold miners are indulging in unlawful acts such as sexually abusing the women of the Yanomamo tribe. The permission from Brazilian Congress to approve mining activities in the remote areas of the Amazon forest will adversely harm the Yanomamo tribe in the near future. In spite of several requests from the Yanomamo tribe, the government failed to stop the activities of illegal miners. The government also failed to setup health campaigns in the community to treat the diseases of the Yanomamo tribe . The Yanomamo tribe value equality among the people. To create awareness in the tribe about the outside world, several educational projects setup in the tribal area train the Yanomamo teachers in reading, writing and mathematical skills .
If the government does not take necessary steps in protecting the Yanomamo tribe, there is a fear that the tribe might extinct in the near future. Setting up health and medical facilities, providing food and education should be the prime motto of the government as it would help to protect the culture and prosperity of the Yanomamo tribe. Strictly restricting the illegal gold miners and diggers from indulging in mining and digging activities in the tribal area will protect the resources and environment of the Yanomamo tribe, which the tribe has been protecting for centuries . Reducing the activities of deforestation for timber and wood products will save the homeland of the Yanomamo society. It is important to protect the Yanomamo territory, which the tribe has held for thousands of years.
Works Cited
Allman, W. (1995). Stone Age Present: How Evolution Has Shaped Modern Life -- From Sex, Violence and Language to Emotions, Morals and Communities. Simon and Schuster.
Chagnon, N. (2012). The Yanomamo. Cengage Learning.
Salgado, S. (2014, July 25). The Yanomami: An Isolated yet Imperiled Amazon Tribe. Retrieved October 22, 2014, from The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/world/yanomami/
