Yanomamö Kinship
Asia Harris
ANT 101
Jorge Garcia-Herreros
February 18, 2013
The Yanomamö is a very aggressive culture, and aggression is accepted in the culture; aggression is also used to eliminate anger. Aggression is how problem are resolved amongst villages. According to the text typically problems and conflict occur when there is any sign of adultery, or when the failure to honor a girl promised for marriage, and also kidnapping and rape. Fatality and kidnapping is a result of lack of women amongst villages. There are several ways Yanomamö’s resolve problems; there are speeches, several forms of chest pounding, and club fighting. The speeches are to calm the person down, and if the speech does not calm the person down and/or resolve the situation the person then has to perform a chest pounding match. During these pounding matches the men are to stand up and not move while him and his opponent exchange turns punching one another in the chest until one falls, quits, or is injured. If no one falls, quits, or is injured they then resort to using rocks instead of fists. Finally club fighting, club fighting consist of hitting one another on the head with a club; if a man falls he is replaced by someone else. These fights are managed to ensure no fight results in murder.
These fights definitely classify a person and earn their respect from the village. Also villages are invaded and attacked by other villages; and when trying to escape they are attacked by allies in the forest. According to the text Yanomamö cannot break this cycle of violence “Because men carry resentment for past wrongs and fear that they will be taken advantage of unless they demonstrate their willingness to protect themselves and their rights, aggressive behavior is valued and dominates Yanomamö life. Since this pattern is highly valued, it reinforces its existence, according Johnson and Earle (2000). (p.97, Nowak, B., & Laird, P. (2010). Cultural Anthropology)” Balanced...