Brooks
ANTH201.02
March 16, 2015
A Man Called Bee Assignment
a. Describe, in detail, how the Yanomamo Indians gain access to food.
The Yanomamo natives use an ancient form of agriculture in order to cultivate and access their own food. This is called, the slash and burn method or, it can also be known as pioneering cultivation. In Yanomamo culture, once an area of land has been cleared and farmed, it is never to be re cleared or cultivated for a second time. And, after a garden is long abandoned, the peach palm plant will continue to bear fruit. Therefore, Yanomamo natives tend to keep new and old gardens relatively close together in order to exploit all of their peach palm crops, new and old.
b. Describe the process of and the reasons for feasting among the Yanomamo Indians.
For the Yanomamo natives, forming alliances with neighboring villages is extremely important for defense and political purposes. Therefore, feasting plays a very important role in
Yanomamo culture. This is because, the feast is what brings the two villages together to form a bond and shows the village what the other has to offer. When
c. Describe, in detail, how Chagnon practices the research method of participant observation. There are many different ways in which Chagnon practices participant observation. One of them is that Chagnon ensure that he learned the Yanomamo language and communicative gestures in order to communicate with the villagers in a more relatable manner. Another example
of his use of participant observation is that, when he had fallen ill he allowed a man from the village (who he had formed a very close relationship with) to perform a spiritual healing ritual on him regardless of Chagnon’s belief in the man's healing abilities.
d. Discuss: whether or not Chagnon should be curing the eye inflections of Yanomamo babies? If yes, how come? If not, why not?
I believe that Chagnon healing the Yanomamo babies’ infections