yanomamo

§  Live in the hills of the Amazon §  Territory covers 192,000 km2
 * Location**
 * §  Located in the Amazon rainforest between Brazil and Venezuela **

( //Ya̧nomamö. Wikipedia)//
 * Government**

· Big chief is Davi Yanomami · Has Support from the Brazilian government · Each village considers themselves a autonomous economic and political entity · Everybody has a say in their government · The leaders have the same rights as everybody else · They make decisions as a community
 * Economy**

· Hunters and Gatherers · Tend small garden plots · Have harmony with the environment · Hunt with bow and arrows, blow guns, or spears ·  Made out of wood · Blow guns are usually made out of cane · Make and decorate baskets · Arrowheads are usually made from the bones of animals · Sell different types of baskets

(//Yanomamo Indians//. Hands Around The World) (//Yanomami Way Of Life//. Survival)


 * Society**

· Men who participate in killing have more wife’s · There is one main leader · The Brazilian government talks to and helps the Yanomomo people if they need it ·  Prefer to marry inside their community with a cross cousin

“The space of the forest used by each Yanomami house-village can be described schematically as a series of concentric circles. These circles delimit areas with distinct modes and intensity of usage. The first circle, within a five kilometer radius, circumscribes the area of immediate use by the community; small-scale female gathering, individual fishing or, in the summer, collective fishing with timbó poison, occasional brief hunting trips (at dawn or dusk) and agricultural activities. The second circle, within a five to ten kilometer radius, is the area of individual hunting and day-to-day family food gathering. The third circle, within a ten to twenty kilometer radius, is the area used for the collective hunt expeditions lasting one to two weeks, as well as the long multifamily hunting and gathering expeditions (three to six weeks) during the period when the new swiddens are ripening Also found in this 'third circle' are new and old swiddens: here, people make occasional encampments nearby in order to cultivate the former and harvest the latter, as well as hunt the abundant game in the vicinity” (//Yanomamo Indians//. Hands Around The World)


 * Belief System**

· Yonomoni women must do a dance called the dance of the woman · Yonomoni women wear special clothes and necklaces when they dance · Every creature, rock, tree and mountain has a spirit · Control the spirits by inhaling a hallucinogenic snuff called yakoana · One ceremony is a funeral feast which honors someone who has dies · There is also a harvesting of the peach ceremony


 * Customs**

· Men hunt larger animals such as deer and monkey (10% of food) · Women tend the gardens (80% of food) · Both men and women help fish (10% of food) · Meat is very sacred to the Yonomoni people · Spend about 4 hours a day collecting the materials they need · Play games in the middle of the village · Have rituals in the middle of the village · Harvest 15 different kinds of wild honey because it is prized there. · Study botanical stuff


 * Science and Technology**

· Have developed a wide botanical knowledge · They can use up to 500 plants for food, medicine, house building and other artifacts · Have learned to make fish poison which stuns the fish which causes them to float to the top were they are collected · They can make themselves baskets and utensils out of plants and trees ·