Secrets of the Tribe (Segredos da Tribo)

THE MORE YOU ACCOMPLISH,

THE MORE JEALOUSY YOU INSPIRE;

THE MORE JEALOUSY YOU INSPIRE,

THE MORE VIGOROUSLY YOU ARE ATTACKED

BY YOUR JEALOUS COMPETITORS WHO'VE BEEN OUTDONE.

AND THIS TENDS TO BE STRONGER IN A DISCIPLINE LIKE ANTHROPOLOGY

WHERE THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO AGREEMENT ABOUT ANYTHING.

THEY NOT ONLY DON'T HAVE STANDARDS OF PROOF,

THEY DON'T EVEN WANT TO AGREE ON WHETHER THERE'S A REAL WORLD OR NOT.

SO GIVEN THE LACK OF ANY REAL STANDARDS

FOR SETTLING ISSUES,

THE ATTACKS BECOME MORE VIGOROUS

AND I THINK NAPOLEON CHAGNON HAS THE DISTINCTION

OF BEING THE ONLY ANTHROPOLOGIST

THAT'S EVER BEEN ACCUSED OF GENOCIDE.

THE YANOMAMO ARE RELATIVELY UNIQUE

IN THE MODERN WORLD

BECAUSE THEY'RE ONE OF THE FEW TRIBES REMAINING

THAT LIVED IN THE KINDS OF CONDITIONS

THAT OUR ANCESTORS LIVED IN

WITHOUT A NATION STATE TO CONSTRAIN

AND INTERDICT THEIR POLITICAL BEHAVIOR.

WHAT WE ARE SEEING IN THE YANOMAMO

IS SOMETHING APPROACHING

HUMANITY AS IT EXISTED FOR A HALF A MILLION YEARS.

WHAT WE SEE IN NEW YORK

OR BRASILIA OR PARIS

IS THE WAY HUMANITY HAS EXISTED

ONLY FOR AT MOST 3,000 OR 4,000 YEARS.

SO FROM A PURELY SCIENTIFIC SENSE,

THEY ARE EXTREMELY VALUABLE

AS A SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE.

WE SHOULD LEARN EVERYTHING WE CAN ABOUT THEM--

WHAT THEY KNOW, HOW THEY FEEL,

WHAT THEIR MOTIVATIONS ARE.

CERTAINLY THERE ARE A LOT OF OTHER ANTHROPOLOGISTS

WHO'VE CONTRIBUTED TO THE AWARENESS

OF THE YANOMAMO IN THE WORLD,

BUT IT STILL IS A FACT

THAT PROBABLY 3 OR 4 MILLION

AMERICAN STUDENTS ALONE

HAVE READ MY BOOK ON THE YANOMAMO.

AND THEY BECAME FAMOUS

LARGELY THROUGH MY PUBLICATIONS

AND THROUGH THE FILMS THAT I MADE WITH TIMOTHY ASCH.

Chagnon: When I first went to live with the Yanomamo,

they wanted to know my name.

I told them that it was Chagnon or...

Chagnon,

but they couldn't pronounce it.

It sounded to them like their name for a pesky bee,

"Shaki."

And that is what they decided to call me.

To the Yanomamo,

I am the man called Bee.

BY THEN

A LOT OF SURVIVAL GROUPS,

CONSERVATION GROUPS,

WERE BEGINNING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE YANOMAMO.

AND THEY ALL WANTED TO HAVE THE YANOMAMO IN THEIR PORTFOLIO,

BECAUSE EVERYBODY IS LOOKING FOR

THE MOST DESIRABLE PRODUCT TO SELL.

EVEN AMONG ROCK STARS LIKE STING,

THEY ALL WANT A PART OF THE ACTION

AND BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE YANOMAMO

NOW THAT THEY HAVE BECOME FAMOUS.

Sting: Unlike our civilization

which uses natural resources with little or no thought for the future,

the Yanomamo are perfectly adapted to the place in which they live.

Undisturbed, their way of life could survive

for another 20,000 years and more.

( choir singing in English )

Chagnon: AND SO THE YANOMAMO BECAME MISREPRESENTED

BY THESE SURVIVAL GROUPS AS BEING THE MOST INNOCENT,

FLAWLESS, ALTRUISTIC,

NOBLE SAVAGES IN THE WORLD.

AND IN A SENSE I THINK THAT THAT'S KIND OF RACIST.

THEY SEEMED TO ASSUME

THAT NO PEOPLE ARE WORTHY OF OUR SUPPORT

AND OUR SYMPATHY

UNLESS THESE PEOPLE ARE PURE AS THE WIND-BLOWN SNOW.

MOST OF THE BOOKS WRITTEN ABOUT TRIBAL PEOPLES

IN ANTHROPOLOGY WOULD EMPHASIZE,

SOMETIMES EVEN IN THE TITLE OF THE BOOK,

HOW PEACEFUL, LOVEABLE, GENTLE,

NOBLE, INNOCENT THESE PEOPLE WERE.

WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR THE VERY FIRST DAY

THAT THE YANOMAMO WERE STILL ENGAGED IN TRIBAL WARFARE,

THAT WAS ASTONISHING TO ME.

AND AFTER I COLLECTED DATA

ON MAYBE A DOZEN VILLAGES,

I BEGAN ADDING UP

THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO DIED VIOLENTLY.

AND AFTER ABOUT A YEAR I WAS ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE

THAT ABOUT ONE THIRD

OF ALL THE ADULT MALES DIED VIOLENTLY.

( both speaking Yanomaman language )

NOW THAT'S A VERY HIGH FRACTION OF THE ADULT MALE POPULATION.

FURTHERMORE I ALSO THEN DISCOVERED

THAT APPROXIMATELY 40%

OF ALL MEN AGED 25 AND OLDER

PARTICIPATED IN THE KILLING OF AT LEAST ONE OTHER PERSON.

SO WHEN 40% OF THE POPULATION

HAS COMMITTED A HOMICIDE,

YOU'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT A PEACEFUL TRIBE.

Chagnon: The Yanomamo have evolved

a complex system of controlled violence

within which they can legitimately express their ferocity.

These men are emotionally wrought

because the headman of their village was killed by raiders.

Intoxicated on drugs,

they are compelled by their headmen

to fight with each other.

This will allow them to discharge their frustration

with the death of a dear kinsman.

They will leave on a raid to kill their enemies

the following day.

WHEN I PUBLISHED MY FIRST BOOK

SHORTLY AFTER I COMPLETED MY FIRST YEAR OF FIELD RESEARCH,

I SUBTITLED IT,

"THE FIERCE PEOPLE."

THE TITLE IS, "YANOMAMO: THE FIERCE PEOPLE."

SO BECAUSE THE YANOMAMO THEMSELVES

REGARDED THEMSELVES AS FIERCE AND VALIANT,

I USED THAT AS THE SUBTITLE,

AT LEAST DURING THE FIRST THREE EDITIONS OF MY BOOK,

WHICH HAS NOW GONE THROUGH FIVE EDITIONS.

I READ CHAGNON'S BOOK

IN THE '60s--

A CHILD OF THE '60s IF YOU WILL--

IN WHICH I THOUGHT, WOW, ISN'T THIS EXCITING?

LOOK AT THE WAY HE OUTWITTED THEM.

IT WAS LIKE THE INDIANA JONES OF TODAY.

AND I THOUGHT, WOW, THIS WILL REALLY EXCITE THEM.

IN THOSE DAYS WE HAD TO DO FILMS RATHER THAN THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY.

AND SO I WAS REWINDING THE FILM AFTER IT WAS OVER

AND A STUDENT CAME UP TO ME.

I SAID, "WASN'T THAT A FANTASTIC MOVIE?"

AND HE SAID, "NO."

AND I SAID, "WHAT WAS WRONG WITH IT?"

HE SAID, "YOU TAUGHT US TO REALLY APPRECIATE OTHERS

IN THEIR OWN CONTEXT AND APPRECIATE THEM.

THESE PEOPLE CAME OUT LOOKING LIKE DISGUSTING SAVAGES."

Chagnon: Dedeheiwa offered to kill by sorcery

any enemy Lelebowa chose to specify.

Lelebowa asked him to send hekura

to destroy the souls of children

in the distant village of Mahekoto-teri.

I THOUGHT ABOUT IT;

I ACKNOWLEDGED-- IT WAS THE ONE WITH THE GREEN SLIME COMING DOWN THEIR NOSES;

AND I NEVER USED IT AGAIN.

WELL, EARLY IN MY WORK AMONG THE YANOMAMO

I DISCOVERED, A) THEY WERE VERY WARLIKE--

WARFARE WAS A VERY PROMINENT FACT OF LIFE;

AND B) THEY DIDN'T SEEM TO BE SUFFERING FROM A SHORTAGE

OF ANY KIND OF RESOURCE.

SO MY INITIAL PUBLICATIONS

AVOIDED THE QUESTION OF WHAT THEY WERE FIGHTING ABOUT,

BUT I DID IMPLY THAT MOST ARGUMENTS AND CONFLICTS

BEGAN IN ARGUMENTS OVER WOMEN--

INFIDELITY AND SEX.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN ANTHROPOLOGIST

TO DISCOVER SOMETHING SO OBVIOUS.

YOU JUST HAVE TO KNOW THE LANGUAGE.

WHY?

BECAUSE YOU KILL THE FIRSTBORN GIRL

BECAUSE YOU WANT A MALE IN YOUR FAMILY.

AND IF YOU KILL-- IF THEY KILL THE MAIN--

THE FIRSTBORN CHILD, BEING A WOMAN,

OR YOU GIVE THEM A BAD TREATMENT AND SHE DIES,

THEN YOU HAVE MORE MALE AND LESS FEMALE.

THE ADVOCATES OF THE MATERIALIST,

DETERMINIST RESOURCE-SHORTAGE ARGUMENTS

CONSIDERED THAT RATHER INNOCUOUS STATEMENT

OR ARGUMENT AS A CHALLENGE.

MARVIN HARRIS IN PARTICULAR,

THE SYMBOLIC SPOKESPERSON FOR THE THEORY

OF STRATEGIC RESOURCES BEING THE CAUSE OF ALL WAR,

TOOK OFFENSE.

AND THEY BEGAN SUGGESTING

THAT I HAD MISSED SOMETHING,

THAT THERE'S SOME STRATEGIC RESOURCE THAT THE YANOMAMO ARE FIGHTING ABOUT.

AND THEY EVENTUALLY SETTLED ON RED PROTEIN--

HIGH-QUALITY GAME.

AND SO PROFESSOR HARRIS

CHALLENGED ME BY SAYING,

"IF YOU CAN SHOW THAT THEY GET THE EQUIVALENT

OF ONE BIG MAC PER DAY,

I'LL EAT MY HAT."

HARRIS MADE A CHALLENGE,

AND CHAGNON HAPPENED TO HAVE SOMEONE WHO COULD--

HE COULD HAVE ONE OF HIS FIELD WORKERS TO RESPOND.

MY RESEARCH THAT I CHOSE TO DO

WAS STUDY PROTEIN CAPTURE AMONG THE YANOMAMI,

WHICH DEALT WITH ALL OF THE ASPECTS OF THEIR PROTEIN CONSUMPTION.

BECAUSE IT WAS BELIEVED-- HARRIS SUGGESTED

THAT IN THE END

THIS IS THE BASIS OF THEIR AGGRESSION

AND WARFARE.

SO TO SUM UP, MY INVOLVEMENT IN THIS WAS, YES-- I SHOWED THAT PROTEIN