Yanomami Warfare
I A POUTIC A L HI STO RY
lS
bploining Yanomaml Warfare:
Altemotlves and Implkations
R. IRIAN FERGUSON
In Ihis book I h.a~ autmpted 10 compik ... ha, is uporwclabout Yano....mi h"tor}' ond uplain ill "",in ~ by rd~,.na: 10 a cob.... nc
mud..,., of IhcorCfie.o.I prop<>lirions. ant .........a•• hinl propos;,;on is
thaI lhe YarJO<II<lrni', prKt.... of war- alon!! with _h political nutlUI as Iong...Ji.una: mi,.."io,", ,t.. $plilrina of population blocs <luring
,h.o$c: 1IlOVe$, and ,he in~rrclal.d ~ins of ,,,,(Ie, inlermarril!!". and
political alliance-is primarily <ktermir><d by Local articulation with
agcntt and aspeCI! "f I:uropean expansiOfl.
As ,he Va"""",m; en,e •• d known histQry in the middk of the .igh.twlll ~ntury. thty wtrc kerpin, 101M high roumry. ,urrounded on all
, ida by hun~ .. of humllIllIO IwI,h. colonial ,I."" markef'. With the
fOflne.ly rowplu .soc:il'ritf of ,ht r<'gion obl".",l(d, and w;,h no ".,ovel
rcoJlt pB'ing throup their homelands, the Yaoomami r..... ined leu "".
posed 10 ,he ....
of Wu'cm
than .....rc peopln 01 ~< and
...0« KcUSible ttmlin. Afttr mid-cmtury, cpisodk expansion into the
~on by a .. mblana: of colonial SO'Ve1"T\lflWt mitigatod the 110"" hun.·
ina, although in piKeS il contin~ for at lea .. another «ntury. BUI
now there also wt'" Pl'acdul contacts and oppor\uniti •• to trod., and
v.,es
MIOOI 01 UlIIIW IISIAIU
mss I
SlJlll/l l .11 IUI(O
_'ac!
throu&h them, to obtain It~1 tooIl.
Afte, the mid·I"7OOI, 1M Wn<em ~na: waxt"d and WIned. It col·
I.p~ in tho doa .... around tho ru,n of the ni[J(l«nrn «ntury, ",rurnod
It low 10",,10 durina tho century'. middlo oXadcs. I nd thon exploded
du,ing tho rubbt-r boom."" coIllpK of the boom by 1~20, followed
' m mml! '''!AlIIOTIOtt! . ..
by tho, sk>bal <conom;~ dcprmion,ltd ,0) ~paim of W.5!.m retraction
thot i. oft.n mi.takm for :ab;.olure, unbroken isol~,ion. The initial penetr..,ion$ by tho,~, reQ'nt ~,.• of West.me .. bepn at diff••em times
in different pl:Kff, but in tho, 1950$ 0I)ft1Xt picW up an around and
began to .pread out from """ poin" in the highland .. AI $omt tin ... in
some pI.aoeo, "",Hive OOfItKt .nd oociocultural disruJ><ion K< in, and ~­
culrur.on.,., pooo:..dtd tOWa.d ~~as.",iution ~ or culrural
The lheoretical motloel dev.1oped in pan I of ,hi$ book i. intended to
apply 10 V.nom;Irnt .tllla.ions llepnning .. tho, Umt .... ben oulSide ",id·
i"ll lor caplivcs mded.nd t<adt,,!:! bopn,.nd tnding with me onsn of
:occu1"""li~ tr.muonnJloon. The.Hon.o .ulm"",i... tbt modd's .... ·
lidiry with hi , rottal infomution in pam II and III hubtn! Imgmy and
detooikd, so a ourn"",.,. of the model is prob.>bly I>OW In order.
It bcsin. with the SllJI'i/ica1lCC of lteel. S_I .001. are crucial means
of production that, alona with OIhe. W"'Iem manufoctures, ha'" been
aoidly ""'ght by ITIltny, if not Ill, Yanoon.m;' The probkm is one of
'''pply: W.. t.... n manuf",.utn h.~ bccn tc:a.ce and unequally di"tibuttd. Improving acceso to .bem h" invo1otd thr« optiom, each with
in own d ... wboch. First, V.norn.o.mi can •• iocaIC their vill.g.. do~rto
oou= points, which m.y .rquirc the C{)r\$ide .... ble ellort of .t.rting;\
new ga.den.t IonS dist;,,~ and perh.ps d.~w.he violn" opposi.ion of
othu•. Second, people can ">O'Ie al individuals Or familie. into anothe.
vi ll ag. wilh • bet ••• ",.ablishcd '"pply_but they do so at the , uff.rmce
of residents who may demand a b.ide for.he privilego. Third, a group
b,,, again, this
can develop ,,"de with. vtllage th.t h., good
option m~y .. quire ~~urins goodwill with brides or o.her o£krinl';<.
The .hird option b,;n8' "p .he ma".r 0/ intervI llage .conomic orga"i~.tion. Cons ... i.... d by Ih. pracltcallriCII of ,,~V(CI, trade ,"ongly t."<h
toward stepped .ransactiOlli along chains of neighboring vill.gos, ex~pt where V.nom.mi MY( ad'p.td 10 Ca""" 'raV(C1 along.he broader
ri~ ... Villages with re .. dent or regularly yisi .ing We,rerners try to m<r
nopo1izc ace .... to them and .h... to their trade goods. Accomplishtd
monopolistS ;Wure .h.ms<l ycs aluPPIy <:i BQOdI for their own .... and
a surplus tho,y ClIon
to "~ •• mocc groups. Thooe woo trade oul
Western ITIltnufaaurc:s recci"" considerable benefi .. In .eturn: indigenous manuf:lCtutn, wi""" labor, and political and mi~W"y ..,pport. A
growing dq><:ndtnce on ",,'<'S •• rn producu th ... creates a po<ential for
sharply exploil:ltli~ exc""n., and <h.. for an ofttn pronounr;td ambi..lena bet""«fI tr.>de p.n ........
Trade is.he foundxoon <:i a unitary alliance rclalmnohip 1M! i. inrer-
"",inction..
'C«$$,
,,;ad.
woYcn wi.h considerations of ~rriagc, political understanding:., and
. ".us. III a multidimemional .lIiona: of mi. sort, any part can stand for
lhe whole. Th .... in a se •• rely "rained rdati0n5hip, a tti.ial slig:hr may
he suffic~nt ground, for a ~gh,. Women, ,he """" valu:able "i"",,~ of
uch.ange and <he: a.ps.one of the alliance, arc fnqumdy of «at",1 concern in time:s of ",.. in, and ....... ', dispu.t< .,... them frequcmly trigg<:r
violent do.sMs.The political chal"OC"ttr of an alli:trrtt--bow people get along-is
..... po:d by IWO factorl: the a.ailability 01 W~rn goods, which ..... ke:s
for ~sen-'roul· or ~s.in&Y~ .Ddc po.n:nen. and tbt abiliry 10 apply force.
Tha, abiliry is <ktmntntd primarily by four rlrmrnt.: direct wppon:
by WCSlern bxkcl1, posse:slion 01 ~guns. numben of militarily :able
mon, and ut:Cpfional fieKmC$' 01 individ .... ls. The fim IWO correlate:
with di.m "'ttSf to a sourcc of Western manufaaUl"CJ, but !be L... t
twO may favor more remote srou~ Dilfc.. m combinotionl 01 factors
can
produce . ra~ of pos.ibililic$.nd kad 10 changes OVer lime
indlKk pa""go from .]liona:.o war.
1'0I"<!e can be .pplitd wi.hin .n Illiona: rhl"Ollgh duels of vary_
ing inrensity. In relatively good relation,hips, carefully man.gtd chest
poundings can d ur the air of animo,i, i«. But in • poIilically charged
atrno.ph ..., pounding tn~.d,.. can cscal",~ to ;ncJudel~ numbers of
",en who tn<:n:o~ uch OIhe< wilh duh. and axes, or won~. When the
violenc •• u.ns de.dly, it con ",.,k the ..... no.ition from .l1iancc 10 war.
Due" can be pr«:ipi'~I«I by y~rious affronts becau~, :1$ I JUSt nored,
anyone can lIand for tlte whole alliance rda.iOll$hip. The application
of force in" duel i, • .manl of aif«ling the 'crtn< of that ,elalion.hip.
The .erm. may be those of the exchang. of women, of.be b.lance, di roction, .tld .d()Ci.y of t.... de in We"ern Ycrs", indig.""", produc\.!,
~tt.d of rel"li •• sta.u •. A nlOre .iolen. shift from "lli.nee to war re.ul ..
from a tr~:KherOUI .laughter of guesll al. f...... These comparatively
",re even .. invol~ romplicat~d po/i,;ul po6i.ionings and come aboul
at mOmenl$ of 'harp OI)ft' radiction in Ir.>de inte .......
11lc Sohift from IIliIll"oCC and .",de to W", OCCI.U"S in mrtt go-neral
.ilwtUon.: when r«tnt Wmttn .~pansion into an area Leod. to a~,
marked inrquality in possct.Sion of "'...,em good, and lherefore to
unsenltd uchangc ~larionshipl; during time:s of "'t:ablishrd but still
Limited W..ICm p~, when $.hIt.. in rh<: positioni"ll of Westemen
ootobiliw r«ently d ...1oped ""change ond alli.na partttnS; and durin& periodl 01 WClIem rnracrion that cre'ln sc:arcitics of m.anufaautC$
amOIli tnCf"C depmdent people and an inobili.y by Yanomami "'Wl"'..
,ha.
to livc up '0 e><peelallons to provide Wes",rn good •. S.abilny In . hor
COfI.ac • • ituation g<"I\<'t:llly ludllO I rtt...,bliobment of peaceful, albeit
ollen 'It:lined, relation. of t"nlc and alli.ntt.
O",e a .lal. ol ..... r UiS1S, Ihe eX!,«{;Ilion of dangel, rombi 'lCd with
inform.tional limit> and .. nce"aimie., GIn pu,h group. toward pr«mpli.e raidi ng. A J><riod of IDt.n~ ",iding and countc:ruid ing m.y en,ue,
Of fOid ...... l' be unidir«rion.al. ACliye ".·aro ... rely Lu, Ion~r rhan ,wo
yUrt Mea ..", 0I>t sidt will ~ QU' of ~e. A frequent uccic is to kill
a ""adman and thus mi~tarily i..... paci ...'" his group. The human C06t.
of w"," are gr.a" darh. pIIin, dm;g"m.nt, emotional loss, ard\lOU$ and
d.1l1Jl'roul journeys, m uch labor, and ""pleasant living circunuunoes.
For ,hese "'_s, pcopk Iftk to avoid war, and ",ivc warfa~ ""nnot
be prolonged .
Gmcr.lly•• war i. inifiorN wl>en.1It aggressofl h••• "'.""" to expec •• h ...heir costs wi ll ... m.in ... Ia.ively limi,N. Th. be nefi •• ,h.t
can ourweigh such limit«! cOSIS ind ude an improveJ supply uf We"ern
""",,,Iactur.. and .he corol lary .dv.mages i, brinp. In some
... pply i. imprOYN dir«. ly, through plunder. MOtt of",n, ,he $It:1regie
",do"a~ i•• o affect i"'efYiII.~ «1)nOR1ico by elimin.uing. prtSc,.."ng,
Or ins<ning a middJem;,n in. ,node neIlO...... k.
When W<$.trn manufacrurn are in .hon supply ,....,. ... he ... , or
wl><n ,I><y .... av.ilab"',n .bund..,.,..from multiple OOUKCI-to that in
ci,l><. case the ... i. ",1.li•• equaLly in l"'S'<'<Sioo of them-no raiding il
exp«.N, according.o II>< '.rDlS of this model (although other sourtt$
of ronflk. could em.inly de.clop). Raiding j. predjct~d.o occur wh.n
.he", i. a general scarcity of $ .....1 but m.orl.:<d local iMqualities in POl'
scs.ion . Tht srand..d paltern i. t..... more isola ,rJ group. r.id benor
ronntC1N .illages wl>en .I>e L~uer do not have tl>< political alld militvy
ad.antages provided by. I"C$Idcn" .rrt>td Westemer. This direction of
D;d,,,, OS typoo.lly r,..."Kd as W",em OU'I'O" .m.," ...,abli.J. mili.... y heg<mony; thrn vookntt ohtn <>COl .. """ beyond .he Ii.... &pm.
dent aLI, .... Other stn~gk uoet: of .iok""" arc to
group fmm
<$.abb.J.in~ a new &".den on .loc~uiQn thot would hann .he IggresSOrs'
tr.dc inle ...... and
k«p P"O!'le from mOre remote groupl lrom .,.
t"mp.ing.o byp. ss middlemen ond appro.eh tbe SOUrces direc tly.
The exp .... ion of all ,hese po.i.N rela'ion.hip' di.pl'YI .uen l
m.jor ""riarions,.s well :as Ottmin&iy endless lou-I pennu ••• iona. Acrooo
much of.he nonl><m range 01 their tc: ... itory, Yanornam, tn,c!~ in,o
war or .ubordin.ote all.. n<\'S, 0< bu.h. with non-V.nornam; who .... d
bette, atteso to sour= of lI:'estem good •. n.. moin version of thi' po.-
.ffor""
pre""'.
.0
.trn joit>td . he Sanema with thr Vccuana, bu. Ninam, Vanon~.nd
even some V:mum.om WCtl' dnwn to thcoe options :as well, 1Dd olhe..
bnides Vccuaoa sometimes a .. umed.he dominant position . In this POl'
,em •• be <thnie disjunClion betw..,n unequ.1 allies add •• <otegori",,1
element .b.en, in in" • • VallOm3mi n:lation., but o.herwi.., the .. ruc''''e of.he .elaliotlShip is qui.e .i mil. r to .hat of n:l •• ion.hips between
dominan, and depcndem Vanornami group' (1ft fefiw.on n.d.4
Farther ...... a cm;caLdiffererocc in gwgnpby pvc rise '0 another
mo;o.. "". iation. I'inam .nd la, •• Vanomam lim cbe '0 the t<adc
anrry of
Urarioocn and the hug.. trade netwOrk 10 in north. Sotnt:
1oc.1 groups ~ dtptn<kn••ILies of established tndcrs.. whi.., othe..
pira'N pao.ing.rade 1JOOd•. Wh<n ,hi. violcna: furad the few P"O!'les
",maining on lh. ri"",, to Iea"e, the Vanornami ffiO"o'N in, joined the
trade system, .nd promptly g•• e up .. iding. F.rtl><. sou,h, KVe .. 1
groups of Vaoo","", '00 V.nomamo experienced ano.her disfi""'i ve
pa,,,,n in the d«ades afte•• he rubber boom, Grtt working for and ,h...,
raiding.nd looting billa/nos and 0.1><. woodi",C"D •
The yc~r 1950 ..... kl ,I>< beginning of t"" missions and other .,..,.
pool> of raoden, Wester""",. The missiono JIfO"'idc a ..mpIc of ~ for
("(Imponoon, and information aboullocal inle,..,iUaV .. lations is oft...
'""""P'ionaUy good. A, ,hc$t silUuiono have bttn described, tl>< Van<>mami', effons.o control 'M IIOUI"<n of W.... rn goo<4 $Urn uniform,
but rl>< political·militlry ",Iation. ,hat dtvelopcd around ,I><
varied co ... id ..~bly. Thi. varyi ng poLitical char;oCter WU shaped by .h.
quami.y of Welten, lOotb Howing from source poi" .. , by.1>< .bili .y of
diff.",n. groups to ~pply force, and by the .. abili.y or ins.ability of Ihc
Wes,ern presence.
Ln aU ,I>< major po.",m variations .......·ev... vio\cna eXtend, ou' ·
an. e.
ward from the a",as wl><~ Western goods a~ ~"'t r«oc.nd.
of conuo ;""If may p;us inl{l largely nonviolent, if ••iII antagonist:ic,
poIi,ical rdatio .... but .",," ... 00 obta.in goods throush .nd<, senoia,
'" ceding women often lind themoclves attaclccd by orl><. Yaoomami
f... her ""'. When Yanornami subordinated ,i>em",I ..:s '0 V<ruana, ,he
"tame" villages ""r. frequen,ly anadN by bra,-o. to the soulh. \1:'hen
Vonom.mi bloke .hrough the Uraricoc .. ;nlo,h.Guiana tr.d. network,
they we •• fOided in ,m n by ,he ··wild'· pcopk of ,he mourn.ins. When
$Om< more sou,hern local group. become w • • I.hy in $led by working for
or plundering woodsmen • •I><y we .........ltcd from behind by other$.
And around '" m:rny of , "" missions., war was rcror<kd bc"""ttn .1><
outpo<. rnonopoI1IU. all~ and those farthe. away_ .lthough, dealing
t""
""'PO<"
n..
10[
from '\lcnglh . Ih. mi",ion group's allie. we", I'l'>OK lik.\y 10 be Ihe ~g'
gressol'$ than tl\( .iaim•. An this fighting is wh.t constitutes the int~rnal
warf.re of the Y.nom ami.
Th. OrillOCo-M.,xo arc' - Ihe "",in locus of p.or' Ill_lay .. the
ext""'" end of the srcCtrum of violenet, in COOtra.t to the rel.tively
pcacdul Mucaiai and Ca1r;mani mission zones .nd ev.n lhe "ea.by
I)...~;.ttri. Sporadic contactS along the O rinoco from . he. la.. 1931li
were linked to in<re..ing teruion. and oumght warl....,. Slartlng In 1950.
a major Wesle", fiinvnion" occurl'fli, but no >ecUre Wes"rn .uppol!
foe any group existed during if> lirst years, and warfare reached. hIgh
pitch. av.r .11 lhese y.ars of anClgolli.m and high ~talily f,?m di .....
and wor, Io<:~l society w" disrupted .nd destabilized, maktng the "'strumenta! u" of violmee common and lowering , he thr..hoId for war.
Ne-.r.heles< ..abiliullion of Ihe Westtm pre$Cnce was soon followe<! by :"hhd~oto-teri hC'gCIDOIl Yand. return '0 pca"" after.he mid1950•. Subsequent changes in .h. Weslern prt:Sence in tl\( late 19$0.
led to lIew tension. and .Clual waria .. in are .. of marked ,etramon,
Around .he juncture of the O.inooo and Mav"",,, rive •., t"".ions were
brought to a boil by .he .rri ••1 of new Weottn .. rs in 1964. But again
wilhin a few ye.r., the new .ima.ion wa, accommod.ttd and wars
ended. The worsT violence .hen p.ossed OUlward to more remot~ oren
• ~per ie"'ins new contoct •.
Co mparing ,hc O.inoco-Mavac. arCa bet wren 1937 . lId 1968 to
Olher pl.=.oo .ime., ill pe.iod, 01 warf= w.'" 001 ne<:eJ$;lrily .he
moot protracted and inten.. periooU 01 vio1en<. .... expe.i.need by
Y.nom.mi. Th. ,I.ve nid~ of the mid..,igl"<CIl.h century and .M rub~r boom of the I..e ni!!etrenth and ~arly .wentieth ""nturie. may have
produced a. much Of 1fW)'" bloodsh.d ill """'" .re~. BUI the woIl of
the Orinoco-M~vac • • "'. ""Tlai nly were [he worjt of any well. reported
.i.ua.ion, aoo "" hne exren$ive and detailed info.mation
,Mm.
The... Yanom.mi truly wtre £er"" people, bu. that fierceness was no. an
expressioll of Yanomam; culture i.self. _ .
.
.
Th. form of . xplana.ion employed In th" book 1$ not like most
anthropological [hearl.ing on war. 111< . pplication of the moodt:l i. hi,·
to.i,.l: it map. ,hc actu.1 OCCUrrenee of war and OIher major developmentS .g.in.. dioccmible illttrests ;n ",word 10 the COOtac. situation.
Thc model interlocks with .no.her .pproach (Fergu<On 1~2a) th •• can
he . ppl ied only to situ.tiom with unusu.lly complete reporting. In .he
ar.icle ju.. cited, I po,i' .hat til< brmd di.rup""". of W..... rn C<)fItac'
.1..
.boo.
"Ofttl mOll1111 I "
have fos.ered reli.nce OIl vio1enoe in interpersonal aff.in; aoo low.red
the threshold a. which conflict turn, to war.
My c. u<al, detenninisric .pproach .0 history is hardly Ihe current
'lyle . It i. also ,rue Iha.llOt every "... 61$.11< . heore, ica l expeCtarions
.00 thot many individual wan; could just a •• a,;\y be expla i""J by o.her
IlI<orie •. Bu. whet> one con.iders ~II Y.no..... m; wars. clear .~prions
to Ihe pallern are few 000 .he evid.net in .upport of.he theory is strOng.
Ultim •• ely, til< tH ' 01 any .heory i. how well it . xplains Ihe f:act, in
comporioon with OIher theories. In the followillg ><etions, I COntrast my
approach.o.he o.her mojor .heari", thaI havt bc<n offel'fli 10 upl.in
Yano ..... mi warbre.
The Prot.ln H,pothesls
One major line of nplan •• ion bas come to be known ~ .h. protein hYpoThesis (see Chagnon 1983:8 1-89, Ch. gnoo.nd Hames 1979,
1980; GfOfS 1982; Hames and Vic""," 1983: 12_18; Harr i, 1984; Spon.
sci 198J). Actually, .he.e a.e sevenllinked by""'h...., which I h.v.
di.cussed individuaUy in twO previou. publicarions (Ferguson 1989b,
1989c). Reade" interested in the det. ils of .1I< theori .... nd in tlx: pan Amazonian .videnc•• re referred 10 .ho... work!. In thi' discussion. 1
wi11 .. ick.o the main po;nf> and.he Y.nomam; .i.u.tion.
It was J''''' lien""" ROO! (1971) who ini.ially proposed Iha. Yan<>numi warlare w.. an adap.ive mpo"'" 10 .he limited .v.ilability of
nutrilion:olly necessary game aninul•. lbe g.""ral hypo.hesi., how", ..,
h'$ bc<n 'rgued most pe..;'t"".ly by Marvin Harri. (1974, 1977, 1979,
198 4). n.. basic otruc.ure of .he [heory begins wilh the observa.ion that
it is Ihe male's role 10 provide meal. A. 5i. kind (1973 b) . uggc.ted on Ihe
ba5i. 04 her work among the Sharanahu., cu lturally p.ttemed (X ~_
.ion. require Ih,t men pro.ide mea. to women wbo provide sex. G."",
;. depleled by hunting,.nd hunting pr(SSur~;' a function 01 vill.ge size
and the length of lime .pem in O/IC \oca,ioo. As 10<:.1 game availability
dedi I\C$ and hum(rs . xper;.net di mini. hing r('urll$ lor t h.ir effort, male
competilion o'~r wolTlCn in"n.i6 .... leading 10 figh.ing withi n group.
and raiding between lhem. Thu.-.he lheory goeo-game deple.ion
I.ads 10 oonmcu o-.-er women, wh i,h Iud to w.tt.
The laC! .ha. WOf makes Yanonumi groups move apan from each
other i. in.erpreted .. havi ng twO adaplive consequtnCC$: ,he no-m.n'.land befWffn enemi .. ac .. a. a kioo of game pre$Crve, .llowing animal
111 mu .. mamrs
popu[,tioo • .., rcpl<ni<h t~nu<I~, and people in Oight /II;Iy pionttT
new Of kmg-unus.ed tu. ilOl1' w~ .. 11""'" is mott abundant. A .c1at«l
hYl">tht, is was 6m propo~ by Div~le (1971}) and ~Iabo.ated by D .. a1.
and HaITi , (1 976) : by fO"o.;ng a mal. , upreJruld" idrolOiY, war among
,h. Yo""mami lead> to I d•• al"auon of females, a prdC'On« for male
babi", and • patte.n of f...... I. infan'icidc. Divale Ind HI .. i. ,ugg'"
,h .. female infa nricido, 00 induced by wa., i. a pr im..uy "",ani of populalion 'cp>lation in band:and village: 1IOci<ti...'
In""", rarIin- ",per ( ""~UKNl !919b), ! examined tho liM halfof ,hi.
theory-that a ~mi,«l 11'...... upply lead. .., ~att. Aft" rnicwing
da,. from aU over Amazonia. ! concluded ,hal Ilthoush thott is much
""idonee 10 support asp«11 of ,~ model, t~'" att also .e;&SOn' why i,
is inadeq uate as a ~ne,"1 uplan.tion of Amazonian waf. Dimini.bing
f.' ul1t$ for hunring efforl do ~s.! larger, settled vill ages, and dKr.a.·
tns huttling ,u,...," i, occompani«l by " vari.ry of ren.ions .Iong gender
lines. But the t~ pical ... uh il that people move, 001 ,ha, 'M~ go to wa ••
Reg ...ding the YaJlO<1\l/OO sptcifi~.l1y, t'" quest;un of glme availIbility and protein (IOOSumption in ~ O rinoco-Mav",," Irta Ius bttn
bitterly roo ...,«l, withou, anyone', presenting dofini,i'e ""idenoc (oce
Fe..""", 19'92a:205 ), No ont dispuln mat by t~ mid-1970s, gamt
wat olmosl mtirtly dcpktcd in ,ho ouu mos' txpostd .., hunting by
mis.s.on youpo, bu, il ;" DOl" elraf wh<"ll diminishing murnl and dec.n,ing supply initially .n In. I htli.v~ they began within a very fe w
yur' ~fter any We'tern oo'pof\ I"chofed a local y.oonta"'o group in
OM place . Chagnon ond Liw, ""Y disagree with me about .h is ,iming,
but we .... on in .ecord Ihot glme depletion i, not an eXpKtable reoult
01 ,ub.i"."", pr=ic:es 01 Yanomomi who att oo< ... uc:Ir. '0 I W",.. mcr.
Good', fieldwo.k (1989, 1991)""""'3 a less oenlcd group demonm~lcs l!<at urunchornl Yanonumi . tgularly """'" ItOtInd in bunu and
Mt:w«n gardens. Helena Vale ..... ·s TWO narr31:ives (BiOCD 1911; V.lero
1984) provide abundanr roolifmati ...... MOttl rnpond to a vati..,. of
conside ....1ion.s, game ov.ilabilny bring a oi&nifican' onto , ....... movem~n .. Ott'" 10 p~nl depletion and .... ur. a ~ncnlly adcq .... ,. 'UWly
of me." wi,h"", «course to Wa r. Good (1989:135-40) also dcscrik.
how a dcdine in moat , ho"ng in 0 lorger villagoled 10 dKre.Kd ..,Iid.ru~ and tendencies loward fission . without , uggest;ng l!tlll • nuion.ng ,I pred.ctably followed by war.
R..... ilOWlDg the case m.. e"ol compiled in this book, lhere a .. in$Ia""," whore indi"'I'o,," of Ioal p ..... depletion :arc ~rred bdOf<,
a tum ' 0 \rtf. Certainly the most signiJican, caK i. ,~ mnftict bt.
tWftfl F""iwc', people ond lIi ..",i·tm over dw: Shili01aloalion (chapt<r 11 ), in wh ich quarrels about .... a. distribu ,ioo .nd animosi, y over
local gamc depletion a •• feport«l. In Chagnon', r.con"ruclion of th is
conm", fighting over WOmen i, al50 involved. 1"i5 One important and
unw.Dally wdl·desc:ribtd clse thus demonstra.es the full,h"""lical se.
qucncc: (1) problems with g:lm< , upply, (2) followed by ~ghting ...... r
women, (3) foIlowrd by WoIr. lint me Shihou. cue is the only ODe I !<now
of in which .... full K<]UCDCe" indicarrd, and O"YC11lhis caoc of conllict,
when comidcred in full. is 1nO<C thorou&hly and &tCU,,1y e"plained by
considcr.o. ions of _
10 W.. lern goa.ds.
III my vi ....., pm<: depletion in are .. around Weslern outposU i, an
impor""'t fac,or ludmg to dimini.hed r«iprocity ond encouraging the
,""ru.""ntal U$C of force, Ihp, helping.., lower Ihe threohold fOf War.
Conflicts fd .. «l,o gome and prdcn produc:c con also provide Ih. trig.
ger fo r war bttw«n ~wo groups who "Iroady It... 0 " ",ined "lation.
. hip-a. can inalll", suspicions of witchc .. ft. or dilput<$ over WOlmn.
C:lm< deplelion can bt a contributing foetor, bu. only .hOI, in . he occu ....
rtn« of war. It does nol explain why actu.11 WoI.n ... b. e;,b 011' in ce ....
lam t,1IItS and pia"".
III :mOIho. POlK' (Fe'JUK>l1 1989<:), I c:omickred the 1«!IJoIId half of
the plOl";n hypo,!>aiJ--its posio«l adaptive efftcll--'pin using data
from aU around Ama~oni" . Although buffe r zones and popllJa,ion re_
locations do reoul! from war, ir ;. 001 clea. ,hal Ihese: p"",ide major
adaptive ad .. ntagel .hal could no, al ... be at!>i~«l wi'ho", war. Mo ....
over, war may fo<u popul.,ion. to coneen, .. t. lor def.nlive purpose.,
and this nllCle"io" ..... y il5ellle.d to len .ffieien, exploi' .'ion of game
-=.
All I..... ob$ttv.tionl appear.., be applicable to Yanomam, WoIr'
fart. II has bttn docwncnled !"CJI".o«lly .hal wan end when On<: group
I1>OYe> a ..... y from ;t.nOlhcf. It Ott"", only common $tfIKlho'$OrIIC1imcs
tbost in Bight wiU on;o,. betl.r hllnling in 'heir new loc:uion, and that I
oo-man·,·land between blood enemies will wi,rt.C:U on inc.use in Ioal
g...... BUllhere is no tvidell« Ihat either of these consid..., ion. pl ay.
o crucial role in ,he Y~nomam;'s adaptation '0 th,i. natur.1 tnv;ron'
ment. MottOVcr. Iong.di51anco mov.mom. in,o new ""i,ory, although
oft.n .purr«l by ,''' ~ptlllt~ of war, art much tt'OO« oftcn motivat«l
by the ~pun~ of 5()U'C<:I of W.... m goods. And wlltn people h.,.. to
pul lip WIth a dimmished pmc supply in Older I() p .......... aco:s.s I()
\l:'cR.rn good<, ,hey kam.., «tp<. IlIlUm, ,litre is only a ""'1 tftIIlOUI
• '1!1
I
.oIalio",hip b<1wun g..... <kpl<tion, WI', and rn()V(m.nts that i"""u ..
pm< .""il,bility.
Rega.d,n!! tho: postul,....J Idlpti.e efftct of incaasW fcmalr infanticide, thr i..... is nlOft ~ornrlic"ed. 0...,,10 (1\170:17:5 ) ."ributts hi.
formulation of tho:
ro a ",adl", of Chalnon, and a...&"",,'. own
dcscriptiom (1\167 : 1351-41 , l\lnb:273-7., \jl7):I34, 1\175:96) ..,.
p".tcdly .. a", th.at the", is. circuw ",lorion!.hip;\mOOg wad...." P"'I·
c~ for male thildrw, ftmlle inllnlicide, I sca. city of adult ""OmOTl,
conllicc OVer worntn, and war.' Wh., o;..,,1e and Hlrri. (1976) do i• ..,.
I.", the n>mp<1hiol! CI'«. WOmtfl 10 pme $CIrcity antl"",rnd thr orgu ·
mcnllO .,.,.,ub •• oon5<'qatnttS of popublion . ogublion.'
In my pmo-iouJ ~ (fergulOll 1989<::254-2:55), I :lrgutd thaI
evm.fI«, lhough l:lr lrom conclusi .., doH suppon an uwciation of
female: inl,u" icidt with limesof aqive .... d:m among lhe Vanomamialthough perhaps !lOt lho: ulC'I aW>Ciarion poorull....J br Din k and
H .... i•. On the other h3nd, 1M ~~ dot< not indica", that ","ch
femalc inl.",ici&. leads .0 iI.biliution of population, which, as di .·
CUSsN in chlp •• r 4, hal b«n growing "'pidly in recml ye. ..... My CUI"'
rent research found .ddilional IUppo.l /o •• he exUICnox 01 p.ef.,..,ntial
fcm.ole: inlln.iclde .nd ill as_io,ion wi. h limes of wa •. Eguillor Gorci.
(1\18'1:50-51) documenli Ihol.he Pl'ICtice don exi .. in Ih. OrinocoM..l CO a."'. WithOUI ,eference to lime period,.he reports ,hal of 482
li.e bi"h., IS mal e. and 2'1 lemalu ",ere killtd.
Early and hlcrs (1990: 1)3-37), working a.ound the Mucaj.r mi<·
.ion, productd .he moll ~omp .. hens i.. demosraphic .rudy done for
any Yloomami VOUP. Although Ihey cri"clM wit" Ihey S« a$ an ex·
ass<ra l.d emphasis on lema l. inlanlicide, lhei. own onoly,is lend. 10
,uppo" Div.1e and Harri,', posi.ion. FifO!, lhey C()n~rm .h.t ~p •• I.rcn,i.1 femal. inlanticide is prlCliced p.eci.. ly to ha,,,,n anOlh.. p.. gnancy
and bi"h, bopcfu lly a male" (1990: 136-37). Thi. i. in kttping with
,he O ... le-Harris propo611'on Iha. war mcouraS<1 (e"",1e inlanticide by
devollng .he prcl.rencc for lNic child ...... S«on<l, . heir do... d>ow thai
womtn make up only 22.6 perctnl oflMrohor. born M.wun 191 ~ and
I\lH (1990 : 20-21 ), • period in which Ihis
WI. involved in II(:>"cr." wa ..
ch.pt.. 7). The caUK of Ih. imb;oLancc is 110< known, bul
it i. consi,,,,n. with Of ••1e .nd 1·larri.', t~ptCUliOr\l. Third, the ••udy
"""",lllion .ppears to ha .. bcc:n Jhrinlri", prior .0 conlaCt in 1958, •
bel cle: •• ly linktd to 1M tlI"lre .... scarciry of wo",en lurly and p"",,,
1m: 19-23, 1'10), which in tum luppoml'" posilrd popularion con·
trol funClioo.
"""""I
<>«
"""I'
. Ove,..,n, che", i, OgfU' deal of .. idenox thal lhe inlcgr.>lcd proposi"~ cha. make. up lhe ~pro"'in bypo.heoil" dul with genuine rel • •ionships. Wberc " " weakest, bowe..., il pttcl$cty as a n explarunion of the
OCCU ... nce
of war/;\••.
.he"
Onpi",
dilagr«mtnll on many topia., Ii10t (199 1:68_70) and
C h.agnon (l98a:9861 coincide: in emphuixing ftYtngr ... an ..,plana.
uoo for Val"lOf"ll;lmi warfa.t.' Li1ot'. u planation invokes Mauss and
~i·St,..,USI~ i. daims that Vanomami t;gh. in thr Iprit of rttiprociry,
III ''''S blow for blow. I do 110< ql>C$tion ,h •• V.nomami ..... war thi,
way. It il part of my I1>O<kI .hal INIer' al inrtr«11 arc ron ..rted ;mo
lDO<al Itrml, .nd always, ~thcy I-Iatttd il.~ · Rill how can rociprocity
..,pl.in lhe chans< lrum puce to war and war 10 peact? H ow can i• ..,_
pl .in ,plli.l.nd "mpo",1 v"',ation in lhe hi.1Ory of con8icu?' UtOl',
rcsporuc Ittms to IH: Ihl1 i. doef; I"lOl h... to, bcu.UK war and peace
.'" lunda_mally Ii>c: ... me th,ng_me ..ly allemative modoli' i« of lhe
fundamellt.l, und .. IY IIlJl ..alilYof.he .pi.il of •..,iprocit)'. I .emain Un_
roh.i~ that war and pe.ce are " .. o.illly .he .. me.'
a.aSOO" (19790:87, 1988:985--87) avoid. .he.. more obvious
probl.ms beau.. he .rl"'" Ihal w. rs 0I:lr1 ovc. other iSSutl-mainly
~e.n -lnd .r~ (only) conlinutd 1m .evenge. Hi. la.ger .h.omical
pol~". 1$ .hol s«klng rcv~nge may oonler a "prod uclive advantage on an
",d,vld ual o. I 81wP 01 kin bc:cau~ a repUla.ion 10f Itroci,y may d.l.r
oth.rs from ,,'ac~ ing o' altcmplillJl'o tok( .d.. mage 01 lhem.
. Revelll" i, Iffil""mly cited as l a u"" of "pri mi ri .. wad:lret but
til valu. as an explanation il qL>Q.ion.o.ble (Ferguson 198~b:39--.0
1988c:i;"';;i). I di5l;nlUilh .e..n8<-0 dQirc 10 mike!>xk at ~
wbo has w.onged you-from rculialion_1 counlcrstrike against an
e~my ;n",nded .0 ~.• r fUlu", anacb. In some, bu. 110< III, politi"'l
( lTcums.allCQl, m ah",IIOfI;', ..""ibl< tulic. When a VOUP il rtlali."
109, Or .... en wMn il ;.Initia.ing new I>of.lilirin, il will ..... the .hetoric of
.engeanct to ... t~liu aclion and mobilize: SUpporl (F~rgU500 19l12a:
223-lS ). Along ",nb OtM. /IIOr.II1 thema, l:Opttially .00.., of witch·
cnk ond b",~ry or oowardia, .ewngc can IH: I1W<lIO persuade othe~
10 adop •• COUfK of ""ion. I lH:lirve, t.o...m:r, Ih • • Sladt-Michaud',
(1975 :50) .... nt"']i ...,ion- ·wh.trm" m. ",leo ..10.... to """iYe soli.
da, icy, the ukl" of ....,geannt: always u:nds tverywhe .. ro "" thr a!bi.
of lhe dose ~groles of lhe viet;nl roIher dun lhe K"oup a. a .... hok" - ap·
plies c""n ..... Ihin tM hIghly 'n,crul.,td 001 group< of the Y"",-,..... mi.
Except where m:llly diffe~nt n.. mb... of a 001 VOOP have oimj·
lar Iooon to .""ngc-_h
after lilt Shanu,ar,'. killing of aJ many aJ
IS Ri•.u.i· .... ; men (duple< I I)-a blood d.b, alone will gener.olly not
Iud to war, In a ~al many aSCI UJ>Of,ed in this book, lIt.haps even
a ""'jori,y, a killi", i. not foI ....."ftl by any OI)UIt,etnid wi,hin 1M
few y<:an. Ctusnon probably would not ,acrict ,he rime frame tIIat
RMTOWIy: "Vengunrt morivarion IItnlflS fO< """'y roan" (Chagnon
1988 :986, . Tbe only Col . . he ciltS to lumlallliau ,lut daim, h.owtver, ;.
me 1975 ",id by Bis"",si ' le" on Pal;lJlO>O..... eri, ~Iy in.ended 10
av""3" 1M 1965 Iolli", of .he Mo.iou. uri headman. This is .he c:.osc: dis·
cusoed in rna!Her 14, "'he~ i. was polnrcd "'" tIIa, Chagnon had origi.
n~11y .",ted Ihat ,he blood debl ~nt in ,he opposite dirution--Ih", il
_ IIx: P:l.lanowa·"ri who nttdtd v.ngt~. Thus the actual "",luvi.,..
is lhe reverse 01 wha, wall sp«ifieally predicled in earliet publications.
Moreov ...., 1 found nUITI<' OUS incidtnll described in lhe ~ltrarur. in
which a clain>ed need f.,.. "",.tl3< was obviously nunipulated. Tbe de·
mand for vengeanrtcan IH: trumped up. I. when lhe M""",, ·.eri .....,dtd
to av.nge ,he Pa\.:lr\OWa· ,e.i', .. possessi"" <>I6ve of lhe;, own women
leb.pter U). It can bot forgotl .... and ,hen luddenly .. mernNrtd when
polilically convenient, as il wall by Chagnon's f.iend Rer.b.w •• eg,"'!·
ing lhe Shamal.,i Ichaple. 14). It c.n Cl'cn he fabricat.d oul of whole
doth, 0$ h'PI"',,,,d duril'3 Kalil ",id. by tniSlion Y.nomam' On the
Y.nomarno of ,he Siap. region Ich apter I ~ ).
Chagnon makt$ the ge l", ..~1 poiTlt tha, phy$icol revenge may b.
sought for an imput.d sor«ry killing, JO Ihal ~.Vtll in ,I>< .h..,n« of
ao;ve military "''''<It, Y'non"'''10 grou P$ C()n$1~ntly gel\e"'le mut""l
hostilny~ (l972b,2S9). 1\ toreety
,ion, of course, i. vin ually
a "$tram gauge" (M ~twick 1970) lot the tellOt of relalions heIW .."
grouP", • point Chagnon 1]9": 118) m.kn him..,lf.
In my vi.w, the Y:utOIt\lImi control ..... IIgt; 'I><y are noo conltolkd
by It. For ~k other lhan lhe victim', v.ry Closesl kin, r""'nge i. a .. a1
but highly ..... Ileable motivalin, factor. TM .. arc frequently many dor·
mant ,cason. lor s«ki", mr.nge,:and if none ex", .. iOIn< <:lII be ma~
up. n...,. c~ to the fo .. in oooflict situations beawe ,hoI is On< way
ro I........ mat«j.lly .. If.inrc""l.td actions in rnor:ol term .. Vengeance i.
~good to thlnk~ .nd good ro pcnua<le.1 Su. a focus 00 ~nscance will
no. eJuodat. why WlItS luppm. Nor do Ilhink dut t~ "'110 ... ke rcvtllJ!< an: do,,'g tIIemsdva a .. produclI~ bYO<. Tha, poin., ho~r,
will be consodtrcd in • b,e. d',",,"ioo.
a,
"":x,
"",u..
TMre is no quemon ,ho. Ya""",ami men 00 many occasions light <Wer
women; lhe~ is no doubt llut 'uch ~gh .......... imn. kad rowar. Who,
il in di.purc: i, the ,~ .. iool ,i",ilicance of ,his 6&b. 1ng and, in P"'".
lieul .., lIS ulility in uplaini", war. Chagnon, of rourse, i. moot doody
auociatcd wi,h ,he position llul Yaloomarrd '" ro war O¥« women
(e.g.. 1968:123, ]992b:1I2-]4). In his doctonl thesi .. after noting a
lhonagc <>I SoeXU;Illy avail.ble WOInC1I resulring from f""",1e jn bnricide,
polygyny, and POS'P"'",,,m &a cahoot. be 0/1.... <be hypo<Mr.i<: ~Tbe fre.quency <>I '",no·.mage figh,in, and in,"""';l1asc ..... rfan: co-nrift with
the fr ......ncy with which males ""'Y q;tim;lIdy "' iffy oa ... 1 desires"
(Chagnon 1966:2).
from the tnlddle 1970. onward, Ch'8"""', pooirion bec:amr <n.
rompassed w;lhin hi. evolving fO<:iobiological penpccrive, in whieh
Y'nomami lighli", wU ftC1I 1I a f()<m of _u.1 ~kction-pa" of •
broo.k. pl'OOOS$ 01 C(Im"w'ion for ma,tS limed at mnimizing inclU$ive
fit""" {Chag""" ]979.,87~9, ]98),86, 1987:29. 199Ob}, Chagnon
aclcnowlc<lges ,ha, men will rompcrc.nd 6ght """ m3lrrial reSOUtoe>
when ,hey are Kar"" bu, he .rgues ,ha, whe~ resources a.~ abundant,
m.... will ",",pcle.OO 6&bl over women .00 ,eproductive success. It is
lhe latter .iluat ion, I>< maimaillJ, Ihalappl.« 10 Ih¢ Yanomami (1979a:
87, 103-104, 1979b: 37s-n, 401, 1980: 123, 1981 :507, 1990b: 82).
In a p"",ioul p.rer (Forguson 1989b, 15 1-52),1 qucitioned whetbet
Ihete i. "idcn« to i upport Ch"SOOh', (1980:1231 propostd inverK
rdalion.hip he lween mat. rial reSOUrce .carcity and (I) polygyny and
(21 rtshling Ov.r wome~, eitller among the Yano .... mi Or . I.. where. In
, h. di$CUuion to f"How, I will "'lI$idrr fi ...1 some ",her que"io", .e·
lated to the conneclion between war and fighting Over women, and lhen
the issue of wl><tIIcr a"rmi •• Y'nomami men aClually do incr<casc their
reproduclive SIKCeII"
It i, my impreMioo ,hal lh. antlLropological and gcn«;lJ public.
tnilunder ... nd Chagnon', lIO'i,;O/I. Judsing fron. countless convena·
tions, I beli.~ ItIOft ~k think Chagnon" argu.... nt is Ihal com·
pflifion OOWffn men is the cau'" of ",iding to capture WOtnC1I. !luI
Chagnon (19n: 12J ) a""n, ,hoc "'ids are lOOt iniliat.d in order to ap,ur. women, a"t.oo&h oroa: ",iding bqinJ, tMt p<>Mibilify i. an addi·
tional incentive. Ralhe., Chagnon', "",,.,1 theory (1979a, 1982:305,
1988:986) "f)p(an ' 0 he
rompc';'ion Oftf women within a wi
voop lead. 10 fissioni"" .nd fisoionins frequently le:tds ro war bmo.-een
,Iu,
oegmenu.
1\1 •
U"""'I lUll ....."'.. '
flUoli om we'l/I , ,
Qnainly such 1IC'quenr;a of eve",. do occur. flu. r«ffitly Iis,ioon!
~iII~gn 80 ,0 wu only in ~ caxs., and kw;:al groups olkn diride withou, ~ny h,nt of a major ligh, 0Yt't WOJJ>en, ilIu. Chasnon't moot dno.ilcd
,heomiaol di5<UMion c~n apply only U) " " " " frxrion of .tpOrled wars,
To .ha, nu",~. could «aoon.:obly be addtJ ClI~ who:", inlermorria&"
between villaS'. is folkno...,d by a ligh, ~r women , ba. lead. U) wu,
Rut mos. ,uc.h conflictS ronttming marriage do OOt n:su l. in war, and
I sUUCit .hey migh, mo« appropri. ,d y be ronsi<kr.d u.be "I"'",.ion
of 13 W, liven judging from the mos. inclusive number of
fn. m.ny
Yanom.mi W;lfI we have no indica'inn of any con n,e, Over WOmen anteoYlbruk of violence,
IXd:n! U)
In a reetll, summary exposition, Chagnon', expeaa.ion •• boo.u beh .. ,o. ar" framed very broadly: " I am limply ""uiug ,h., conllicu of
reproduc.ive i""res.. occur «>mmonly in!xlnd and .. i!xll toeicties and
.h •• th.:ac: often lead , . , to in.rtgrOUp conllicu mal _traWrion:>lly con.
sider fO be warf"",ft (19901> :82). Whether conflic:q """ women doould
ne«s.sarily ~ comidettd "conflicu 01 rtproductiw: in'erats ft will be
difaJmd btlow, IluI if 1 understand Chasroon" pos",on correoly, .U
ho: predoc.s abou. beha~ior i. tha. in the mulriple and complicated in.,,·
~rsonal and intergroup relariDIU thot pr«cde ."" outb«ak of war, it
.. common 10 600 «pons of" ligh. bc'Iwccn men,;m:" ..-.:>mon, As an
,mpi.k,,1 gcnc:",h... ion, this prediction ClInllOt be duputrd. But i, niH
applin: only t., $Orne ca ... .,1 war, and even in ,hose ClI"'S it i.typicaUy
on ly o~ of ',,,e.al.n,~dent griev.nce.,
Consider ,h. 'wo ClIS.. Chagnon picked '0 ill """,,, hi. po.i.ion.
One (Chall"'ln 199{1b:96_97, 104) in"",lves, disputed rcda .. ification
of po .. nti.1 mamage
in 1960, which c."n, ... II ~ led to a village"~
liuioning.
r"clas.ification is app ••"ntl~ tbe indden! deKribtd in
o.agnon 19n: 87, bu, "'hieh Ii....",ing il«fers ' 0" 00. ele .... ) Afte,
fissionin" the."", divi.ions had od.." aimil". quarrels, ;o.nd • "'JIC in
1986 led ,ho:m to ,ho: brink ol~. But insltad of SOin8 10 war, ,hey
wssip.... d t""i. bootility in a dub ligh •. 0..S- (I~ : 97) conclude.
,ha, Mil a 'war' dew:1ops" (my (mpho.is) then i\ would be -mi.lcadinjl:
'0 argue .~, reproductive striving is ,rrdeva", 10 ul'lder$taooing the devek>pmocn. ol'ha, wa •. - lbt othtt iUlIIUativ1= <;:I'" (Oagnon 1mb:
98-10 1) is .h, inci<kn, t~t look plaa: around 1979 who:n the old
Bi,...
head"",n, Kaobawa, wail peh'd by T.yu, ...,i children, an
in.ul, .ha, Was follo_d by war (chapter 14).
In hi. diKU .. ion, Ch.gnon (1990b: 101) "a,., ,hal nci.ho:r of thC$C
'wo conniell ClIn be .ttributed to one i.olated provoca.ion-,h •• ,hey
'''5«,
.h,
n"hc:
i.""
pa""""
~e -con. in ....tiono 01 """"Ida;", ant • ...,; ..... rhot ori&inatc: in ~ muJ_
!nude of previou. acts,ft including seductions, malt 0>mpCtiti0n <>VCr
fcnulcot, iIuuhs, .....t"" te.n"80 and • desire fof .evenge. He ~
I~I .-il
.!"
rdarivcly en)' 10 rela .. all 01 tt- ~uiablcot 10 «productive
IIrt~'1lI . btcausc, "" cl~imI:, a Yillagc
fails .0 .eopond .ggus';vely
ro any ,hgh. will be victim izW and ~ ..-.:>mon.
. Nei.her of the two cases Q.gnon d>OeC .0 ""emplify hi, .heory prov.des any , uppo" for a po$ited eonM(C,ion bc'I""",n §gluing 0 ... women
and War. In the §rst, a disputed m... iage .eda.. ifica,ion a qu.rte ....
cent u,y urlie. is said not to be "i"dev.tlt~ '0 a W", tha, <;Quid have
ha~""d (,bu, didn·.) in 1986, In ,he ~d CiI"', a w., did erupt after
a
of m.ults, but """" of the SOUfCCl[ describing this "·a. J'Ckn to
anr ronAi't over wotIJcn h.:oving been involved. A, Lito!, who was .ho:«,
]>OInl5 OUt (1989:28): "lbt d.mcm 'competi.ion to obtain W<>men' i.
totally absent in the iDiti •• i"" 01,,,,, hosriJirif:s and .ho: devdopmen. of
,ha.
""'1:1
,he aUi.."
Thw tho: operative point in C"'gnon'l ""position bccor .... Wt it i.
-e~syft 10 rd.", any and all fia/>rilli 10 ~reproductive .ttivin&ft btaU5e
aggrasive beh.:ovior ;.,.,11 .. ~licvN to have • rtpnxluctive "",rolf, I will
consider that issue: in a moment. For.ho: CU.ren. i .. _whether y,...".
nwni wuf.« can be explained with ...r.:«1\Q' to /WI,;", oYer women
-.ho: two ...... Chagnon h .. selected in bet "ulteoppo6itc points: dis.
~,es oYer women can O«ut w;thoo.. leadil\i .0 wor, :and w~rs ClIn OCCUr
wllhou, any triggering dispute 0'" WOll"'''.
My o wn posi.ion 'tgarding n",n 6gh,ing~, wonJC1l hu sevc",1
tomponent •. I" an ea.lie, comparative IIudy (ferguson 1988b:14852), 1 "",ed that rtgardlC$1 of what ~'uset wa., the Yo"""",mi . ",nd
ou, Ilm<>ng Amazonian societies for ,he poli.ical prominence of thei.
/WIting ~t W<>mcn, and I sugges.ed SCYt ... 1 undttlyinjl: fearutn tha,
may be tuponoibk 10. ,hal dis.i"",ion: ."" unusuaUy limited !xl";' fof
~m.1c ooopcra,;on in "" economy «Ii"". on pl:antains ... the. than bi ••
.... manioc; the aistena 01
f"'wrnal intrrcn If"OUpS in ~
...~; and the idtoIogka! reinf<>r<Xmcnl ~ated with unwually in·
ImSlve "'2rfa,,,.ln my anidc: "" "warri!i.cation" of.he Orinoco-M.v~ca
Yanomami (fe'll1lSOll1992a), I idmtifit.;!.dditionallact<>n: the "typical number of ma";agcs bc'Iwttn vill~gn, wbic:h make women "...,..
significant a. poIi,;..1 symbolo and lu.e .bem mo« subject ro abu"'i
and tho: h,gh number of de.,h, from di",a", aoo war, which in an OIher.
W'Se disturbed en,iroomen' encourage the ins'rumental u'" of force 10
deciok ma .. iase arrangements. (Ran"", [1979<: L861 emphasizes that
if"""
IfI"".lil W IID i e]IU .
1\1 I IIIll.I' , ' .. 0....' .. lUll
the pictu", of ma~ dOffii""""" p ....,ntcd by Chagnon does nol apply to
Yanomami in other are ... )
In Ihi' boo\: I havo bttn c<>l'amcd with m""i~go primarily as lhe
cap.t<>n< of a ,otal rel.lion.hip be, w«n grCA>PS. The tOl>< of ,h.1 relation,hip i. dcl"rmi".d in part by exh grCA>p', ability to .pply for«,
but al$O atld more fu ndamentally by lhe di'lrihu,i"" of Western goo<Io.
From my penp«:, i", it i. Ihe lotal relati"",.hip th .. i, or i$lue in any
fight. I" a good rel >t ion.hip, many Ihings an be overlooked. In a
bad 01><, ...y disputc an Iriggcr vio~ncc. The detonator may be food,
.tatus, or $O'«'y, bUI fights will frequently he Kovcr women" McaU""
exchanged wornen are the ultim'le mrdium of .l1i.lI«.
~lrIriIIg
lor Reprod\lCllon
A furlher difference belween my posi,ion .nd Chagnon', i. ,hOI I do not
acerpt the pn:sumptioo expreosed in hi, sociobiological writings th.t
<onAio over women i. in itself evidence thot mal( behavior i, motivated by "rcproo...:.i,-c striv ing." M,n m.y figh, over women for re asons
oth.. th ... max;miH . ion of inclu.ive fin...... V.nomami women may be
part of a contract l>crwccn groups who h." d~nite ,xpeClation •• boot
, .... de and poIi.;""l support. Womtn a,elaborers, and ,heir YlIlue may in,
crease when tMy hav.!hc option 01 wor~ing for miSSIonari ... They are
sex p.rt".,,-. role quite distinct from thot of being. moth.r. Obvi"",.Iy_ sex lead, to rcprodllCtiOl1, but wha, Chagnon is (or a, ~.St w .. )
'rguing;' ,ha' reproductive IlICC." in it..,lf i. a gool with a direc, impac< on individual behavior.
The p,..",.,.ition . ha, people dclibenltcly x, in ways ,ha, mOXlmlU
their i"d u.ive fim .., i. ,he mos, distinctive and debatab~ point ,n
human so<iobioiogy. Chag""n (1987: 29) hold. that "Yaoomomo males
arc t .. c~in8 ,hei, environment wi,h .he;. OWn "to«s imerostJ at Ita~C,~
and they "mantpul " e .nd .dap' to [this environment[ in "'iving for
.eprodllC".e s...:ct1l .nd maximal inclusive fitocss,W In earlier work
(Chagnon 19790: 128; Cllagr.on and Bug<» 1979: 223 ), Chagnon held
,his moll""ti"" '0 be unconscious hut Sl rongly dctCTminativc-contp.table 10 the effect of gn.. i. y on a falling .ocI< 01" to pla"", ory mo,iOl1. In
reccn, Ihec.c<i",ll,.,cfII(ntJ (1988: 985, 1990b: 79, 81), he .rgues Ihal
there arc ,,,.,, kinds of resourcc. peop~ .ui" for, two kind. 01 hum.n
cffort, tWO kind. of rompetil;On: somali, .nd reproduCtive.
Tllus lhere is n/J ambiguity in the hypothesi. Chagnon has advanced
rOT over a decade:. desire to nuximiu indu,;" fitness is itself a ",.jor
factor shapmg Yaoomami !>o:havioral decision•. Yet in a rejoindu to
me (Fcrgu$On 1989dl, C hagnon (1989b: 567~8 ) introdu«s an enlirely
diff.rent proposi'ion: ~I maintain tha, i. i. u.eful .nd Irgitim.te to in v"'iga" the poIlibilif)l tha, material gain might poSsib ly bo turned into
reproductive bendits ... ,ha, is, I am ,,,,crested in ul'im.tc (reprod ...:_
. ive) consequences, "'" JUSt proximate (hnmediat. ma.erial gai o) ron..,q~nc ... ~ This distinction betwccn ultima,. " tid proximate goal> is very
differen, from distinguishing l>crw~n . Iternative go. 1o, and i, giv .. ri..,
10 a CORIple,cly differen, .." of Iheor., k.lexpeef:ltions and und.rstand·
in&,.
[ find norhing 10 argue
i~ ,he proposition ,h.1 individual s tend
10 lheir materi.l...,[f-in,e,cJl and ,hat in evolulionary pe"'pee!i,·., 'lICh
..,[f-inl".. t ha. a got .... Uy favorable impact on rcproo...:.i" once....'
But i, .. mains very much in 'lues, ion whe,he. awe"ive bthavior it.., lf
can be Ittn a, a 'cprod""iv. stntcgy (see Moore 1990), ... en omong
,he Y.nomami.
Tbe main evidence for 088re.. iOl1'. haviRg' reproduoive I"'yolf appears in Chagoon'S (1988) controvcrs;al ."icle in M;enc •. In ,hat pie«,
Ch.gnon .... ". th., uno'~;, mrn who ha,'e undergone ,he pu.ifico,ion
,ilu.l fo, ~ill.rs, have considerably """e wiv .. 000 ch ildren than do
Olbe. men. H is po$i,ion WO$ immediately challengcd by Albtn (19 89 :
6)8, 199Oa:55~) and LizOl (1989:33), who claim thaI ,he itatul
of unoIt~; i. no< an a<Xuratc m.rhr of I1lCn who have killed. Chat:nO<l
(1990.:49-50) repli .. ,h"'M way he colleoed ,he da,a, it is. I leave
Ihi. argumen,lO <host wi,h the ne<:c<sary linguiStic CORI~'.nc. and field
experiell«.
My own dispute wi,h Chagnon (FerSuson 1989dl hO$ bttn .boo,
whether hif lla,is,ical data ihow .hal unoluJi, a. CII.gno" defines them,
... lIy do have g..ater rcprod...:ti" S""ceIS (.nd s.., Al!>o:rt 1990. :560(1). TheK ... the OI1ly publiohcd d.ta relevant to hi' claim ,hat ,aking
rt"Venge is ad.ptive btcause ,hose who do"" a .. I... likely 10 be attacked,
and 10 hi. more . weeping "aim th .. a dcmonStrated willing"", '0 fight
comr; bUIes to .. prod...:!iv< . tOCOelS by deterring 'he aggression of O! h.".
n.e way in which Chagnon has ch.racteri ..d hi' findings in ' ..:en,
publications is not, J believe, whal hi. stalistics show. Chagnon (l990b:
95, and Itt 1992:1 :205, 1992b:2J9-40) claims his r<$earch demon,lr.l.. tha, uno'~; h ••• lnot<" th.n ,h .... times as man y chi ldren .s non""ok~; of the ~"'" ~~. Hi, d ..., in 'onl .... , .how ,hat ,hi,J08-percet1t
.bou,
... . ",,,,",,1 U'~.'" •• m"
di/fo<ern;e in number of childrtn i, dtri".d lrom the total .ample, ,,'"
broken down by age. This is a .igni~can. distirn;.ion. Hi. tabl., di"ided in.o four ago ''"tesoria, makes clear that ~.u«cs." in bo.h killing
.nd reproduction i, a"",ia,ed with .ge: younge, men arc les. likely to
have killed Or h.d chi ldren. It< I h... e pointed Ou t prcvioo.ly (Fergw.on
1989d :564), in the two older age c. tegories-which indude 86 perccm
of all un"",, .. i_the number 01 children rtport<d f"r ,,,,,,k~; nten ,hrink,
to 140 percent and 167 pe"'ent of Ihe number reportexl lOT non- unok~j
mtn. Difference, of such magnitude rould , till rt;>rese", a .ubSl,",ial
reproductive payoff for "kille"," but do, ... exarnin .. ion call. that infcrence into qu,,"on .
In my pr.viou, critique (1989d), J raised thrtt q,,"tions about
Chasn"n's da .. and infertne«. One wa, that these .pp.rrm differencet
in ,,,,ok~i 's reprod uc,i.e success might represent a 'puriou, correlation.
As Chagnon (1988 :988) OOfes, all the headmen in the samplt arc in tM
uno*-~j category. An e''"''l'tion.l tenden<)' ,oward polygyny by political
leaders, with Or witbout war, h.s been.n axiom of Amazonian ethnoKr.ll'hy for", Icast half a century."
This i, the only one of my th= points ,hat Chagnon .. riou,ly .d_
dress« in his rejoinder (1989b:566)_ Rcanalyting the $ta';sties with
headmen factored out, he ,tp<>rt$ tbat thcre rem.in, a "atistieal relationship a, the 0.05 level of . ignificance in all but one age categOry.
He concludes: ~I would no' £ar~ tQ argue, gi.e" 'M"" data, ,hat ~vi"g
unohi. among .he Yanom.mo h .... fewer offspring th.n non-unok.ais. ~
Thi....."ion of a stati"ical1y .ignificant relation.hip bc:.ween u~oJu.j
statu, and marital and rrproduct;v<:.uccess i. a far cry from the cI.im
,h., u"""~j, ~compa .. d to ,a"",_age non_unQkai, ha •• <Wet twice u
many wives and <wer three tim« as ntany children" (Chagnon 1990b:
95). But if Chagnon's reanaly.i. suppo'" my point that the indu~ion
of Madmen .kewexl tM resulto, it nill docs not establi. h tha, aggr«'ive
men h.. v<: ev<:n • marginal . ta,;'tical advantage in "production, becau..
01 other problem, wi.h the dato.
My second ob~clion (Ferguson 1989d:564) i, that SOm<: 01 the aI'pa..", correlation of unaka; . t;>tu. with higher numbc:rs of wiv .. and
children ntay be a « .ult of eoyariatHm with age witbi" ,he four ag. calegori.,. A 40-yur-old man, for ."ample, is more likely to be ,,"okai and
to ha" e more children than a 31_yoar-<>ld man. Chagnon', 11989b: 568_
69) r«ponse i. ,hat preci .. estimates of .g. are in,po.. ibl. , and so lumping people in.o c.tegories is ne«Wary." Perhaps so, but that docs no'
add reS. the problem. Gi •• n that th. <:orreb,ion is dra"ically reduced by
11111111 101
mm" ",,
factoring OUt headmen, thi' addition.1 SOUrce of potentia l bias raises ,h.
q""stion wherber any relatiomhip, e •• n " .tati";",,l one, really exist$_
The third probkm i, the rtI05t "",iou,. For "':lO<Ino Chagnon docs
not explain, hi. dato on reproductive .uccess (1988: 989) do nut indude:
"living children who"" fathers arc dead.~ I queStion the impact of participation in a killing on the likelihood 01 Ming killexl (Fe'S"",n 1989d:
5641: Docs the avenge wro.!-ai liv<: . nd breed longer Ihan the a..... ge
non-unokail After compiling the """" m.torial pr«entc:d in this book, I
emphuize thi, qllC>1ioo even more land ICC Alben 1990.: 560--61).
Most 01 the men identifiexl a. war Itade:n we .. killed in wor, in_
cluding Ruwahiwe of the Konabum.-Icri, Fusiwe of the Wanilinta-lcri,
Ra,b.we of the Bi,..,i·tcri, Riokowe of , he lwahikoroba-teri, Kohawe
of the Shira.i, and Datnow. of the Monou-teri . hople Were expecting
Helena Vakro'. second husband, Akawe, to be killed befo.. he fled to
the world of the "ape (Valero 1984 :471). Morr.wer, at It.. t ..... of Riokowc', children was killexl by ~i. enemies, and Valero had tQ llee to
p",.a>t ,he same fTom happening to Fusi",.. ', children_ Only Kaobawa'.
rival, Parmiwa, _.ns to have prospered .fter Itading s.cvenl nids, and
he did SO by s.c<uring the support of Ihe Sale.ian5 and obtaining. ,hotg~n. All this .... ide"'" $ugge", that unusually acti~ Iud... in violenee
could looe SO nt.ny reproductiv<: years that it would dimini~h their lif..
tinte reproductive .ueerss.
In hi, r«ponse, Chagnon (1989b :566) ",kl>OWl.dgco that thi, i, an
impoTtan. issue and adds one new i'em 01 inlor~lion and inference.
He claim' that one h.adntan-Moawa of the Mi,himi.hintabowe;-tcri,
now dead from unknown caU$C$-h.d kill~ an extraordinary number
of people (2 1 or 22) and left DO li.ing children. He concludes: ~Being
txccS$;vt/y prone to lethal violence may not be an effective roule to high
reproductive .ucccn, but, 'tati'lically, men who engage in it with some
moderation _m to do bette' rtprodueti"dy ,han men who do not en_ .
soge in it at all." In ,bon, adding in deceased men and tMir offspring
could lowtr the """'~;'. mea.ured reproductive advantage; it i.
tainly within the rtalm 01 possibility that unoka; men would be fouoo
to have fewer offspring ,han """-,,,,0*-41.
Ch agnon (I989b :S~) states thot M now h., tM data 10 add ....
this question, collected during ~tldwork that h. c.rritd Out aftcr <ompleting the Scienu ."icle, and "as my .. hexlule permits, I will publi,h
tMm." He reaSSures u. that "while [ ha~ not completed the an.ly.is
of these new da •• , my intp ...,Hm. of bow Ihey are shaping up give ,ne
linle reason to believe that my initia l .uspieions [that <molc~i a.. not
ct,-
• ~JO<UI'K '''" • III
at SU"" risk of vioicnt dea.hj aK """",,- (198%:566). A, ,Ix li",.
of 'hi' wrin ... ~r fout yUIll ha~ ~ and ,,,-, new dn. h.~ 00f
yeI' '~'red in any publicalion with which I .... famili.r. Whc:n thqr
do, i, mayix possiblt 10 begin fO :llISW<:. ,Ix q_,ion of wMlher bU.
ing:l.OOlhcr ""non has ,h~ dftt, of iDCftasllli 1I.. lilfl ",.. rq>rO<Iuai,..,
',,",,$!I 01 Yanoawni Dl<"n. Th .. q....non can,1OI b< .ddrused wi,h the
inlorma,ion pr""ided $0 lar. At P'CSC:"', 'hc", 'imply .,.., no data ,hal
,ub$~"'i~t~ ,he cla im that ,gg.r~ .. ivc beh.,ior il .~.ted with .cp'<>d"cl1~ $"C«S' ,monS ,"" V,nomami."
... D.ntOgtlIplik l'lI.. p?
In re«n. fieldwo.k in me highl .nds of ,I>< Siap. I"fgion, C hagnoo
(l99h :82-86) found ,ha, in coru~ fO ,,,-, wulik.: J1tOI>ko of.he
Orinoco-M.vaca """, ,he Sia"" peopk """'" Fn.1t and tedatc. Thty
al$O d,ffcnd in ~ral of .he corrda ... 01 ,...or. hav"l& $fll;Illtr Ylhges,
less datK>r:',e .lIia",,"",. and so less fUMing, and ftwt"r mamaS"' baK<l
(NI abductt(NI 0. rotman. When doe •• was rotr...... , highlond W<KDm
to lowland ..... n.
To nploin this
Chagnon inook ... tcoIoskal diffcll'ncn in
.hirude, ",,.,.,.in. and ,iIt lordohili'y of local ri~". The Iown land, nea.
,he Om"lOCO .'" j.a,d fO I><, richer in -gamt .n;mals. pl.n" for lood.
cons''''<liol1 and manufaou.es, and well·d",intd ... ily culli •• ,ed lands
for 8a.d.",~ jCh.8J'O!1 1992a: 83). In.1>< mou",.inou,
n i. much
mQ"" difficult .".1 co.dy ju.. to kelp ,live. On ,he Q, hcr h.nd the wider
Orinoco and IQwer M...... and Si.p•• i.~tS 're difficult ,~ cross, $0
Va""",.mo ~ne ... lly .'oided smling doere until ,I>< .d~n' Q{ ,he mi. lion •• iu. - Th<So L<.>w, aat .",a. in ~gions wl><,.e.he .iven a.~ Imall and
~Hily crosK<la.e lhe ~gions ,h •• Kaobawa'sl'«'Pk-and many mhe.
gt"OUPf-.p""., to I..... "",fem:d H scnltmtn, Ioca.ions for ,iIt """
150 QI $Q }'eart; and .hese
OOtrcd w,th hund,..,.:b <.>f "-"'!I',i"""
abandoned. ",rdcm-more man 500 of
(Ch.apon 1992a :83).
A~.d,,,, 'Q Ch.agnon, " i, com"""ri"" to. pti ..... I"C$OOrcc land
,hal expla,1IS , ... p<.>!,ri ...1
t"'lowlands.
"""n,
con,,,,,,,
.,..,;tS.
""';tS "'"
ront"
,"'m"
Croup' ,ha, Io~ in the lowlands ha~ 'Q
I>< I~ and bdl,"*
,n Q.de, ,0 con'~01 .he large, dc.i .... blt •• nd wick-<.>pcn cwIogical
",ehe ,hey love ,n.lhcy >eel" ro keep ,ilti. neighbori at. COm.
fortable d"fOl1CC by adopnng an extremely hellicose walegy ,h ••
en ... ,I. (,eq""", •• ,ding . nd ohron ic a"cmplS tQ ei,h~r abd~ct
WOfI>Cn from rhcir
nci&l>b<>n QI ooxrce
..... lcr neighbon; infO
w,i........,.
«dlllg more womtd .han they
-rcpoy" >i .....rriagt
.lIiana: "&,eemcnts. To b< d f«live al this. ,bey m.... tnaximize
.illa~ size.
jChagnon 1992.:87)
The problem, as iIt explains it, 1$ 'hal to. other .easons, villages lend
,iIt local alrnosphe .. of vioIcnt compeli,ion, ,h. new, ,malic, g.oops ha~ ,h."" <.>plions : ,hey <".tn
li~ dQse toge,her main,ain an ad'an .. ~ in numl:>crs; they cau!nO"
int<.> mo.e marginal bigh land ZQ""$; Or they can piQn"". infO vacant
Iowl.,ub.1h¢ second <.>p,ioo is the moit .ele.ant for Ch'gn<.>n·. r«em
oose'.alions. H. po,i1$' rope.,ed """crn in which group. a,.., pushed
001 QI oprimum a,..,a •• och the Shani.ha"i d... i.... V, L<.>ngtime 00""'"
Qf ,he ht:lnQw,o-reTi .lbc Shani,bani aru i, said tQ hlt" fun.:tioncd as
a kind of "demographic pu ... p" (Otagnoo 1~2,:88), ..,.wing groupS
....."ward and JOO,hward through ,he
region.
This argtlmtn, KJ""SC1lU. l urp.isins1wn ' Q cultural «OI<.>gy afk.
Chagnon', run of ooci<.>bi<.>logcal Ihcori1ing. I, dots l'IQt invoke reproduct, .. com"",ition, and a!,ilou&h ;, comai", nQ IUsgcsrion
war
may I><, ..I.fed fO dirkm"ial ac:«» 10 Wnt~m JOOdo, Chltgnon's DeW
approach d<.>n indude many poin" ,h.. a•• convergent with """lions I
h,ve argued;n ,his bo<.>k.
Chagnon j 1992a: 89) ackn<.>wlcdgcs tl><, "pos.ible" role of SQun:cs of
Wcs,c.n goods in pulling V.oom.mo .... "hw ••d a<:roH the Si.pa River.
He ackT>owledge. j 19920: 86) an inequality in r.t.,iQnl between people
in .",a, QI 8~"IC' exposure 10 Wes'eTne" and th<.>Sc in ,he mo •• ;rola.ed
hi lls-an incquah,y ,hat invQlvcs a unidil"CC'i<.>n.1 ceding Qf women. He
ackoowledgcs 11992a:2(}9...10) tha, the moo. ifoI.,ed Yanomamo ap""ar 10 I><, the lTI05l pc:aceahle. He ~oo (1992:1 :220) a re«nt w • ...,
<.>f waIll lha. pined mi..ion &fOUPS apiru' -Wild" group'. And iIt positS
a - demographic" pump" ( l99h :88) ,bat JOWtds very mucb like an idea
I I'f"OPO"<I in an .a,1ier paper (Frrsuson 198'-: ,25S), following Steward and La,hr.ip-rbc idea of. p~hilloriC" Mpcopulat ioo pump~ ....... eby
wat pushes """"It from prime lowland .~ _
infO moontaim
and arilt, .... <si... 1areas.
Thr:~ i.. oow<:v<:<, one >eemingly i"""mQw".b" problem in applyllll' model <>f p",·CoIumbi..., p<>pul.,ion ""-,,",,mtn" l<> the hist",.ical
Yanomami. Whethe. 0' not the Vanomami <>f ,iIt: past ISO ycars "prcf"rred" IQ Ii.. in L<.>w, Ha, arr.s, whe", ,hey
li.ed un,il "'~ntly
W'f 001 in the low Hatland. bu, in ,I>< Pali",a and Sia"" highland •.
to fWion afu:. ",.. hing a «rtain siu. In
'0
;tS
S'.""
w,
",,,,,/I.,
' . 'UUI All ... I
Chagnon's proposed pump, pushil\i V.nomami from IowL.nds ;'110
highlands, rn.>y 6, a;.uln Iocal.i,u.. ion. dm'''' ,he .wmriHh a;ntuf)',
bu .... a ~ ..... I proccta. popul • •ion mo::w .......1S II."" bcm from high~.
w Jo.,.,... ground.
"noche. ~den'i.f)' probltm confron" Uw: suggtS.ion .ha. people
in.he lowlands a.e ..... hh whll. , hoK i" ,he hi",l andl a .. pca<nblt.
That rf«ll>mdr i. til( caw ~ ..... Iowl.nd IVO"PO arc 1II.... lly R"OOf't u·
J>O"d w W"'e.... rs, and .he hish-I.ndon .... ....,... ;Iob,ed. auI ..... h.""
O<"CII numorous inl'anoes whe", poupt wilh grnr« .~pos .....o SOUI"CQ
of 'I1'''lcr" (pJOd1 .... .... shed fanher ill\O low coun' f)' by
from
....,... isol.ted IfOtIpo from h'",", .b.riON. On ......,....1 oroosioru, """
b ... broken OUt b.;r.."ftR highland JfOUPf
\l'~ cm prcsoona _
QU.blislwd ,he",; and ........ Ilowbnd Sroupo, undo. r""ili'. ling ci1"CUm'
... nces, are "'porwd .0 h.v. bttn qui,. pt:lC'l;.blt. ThU$ , he Iowlandl
hishl.nd dkhoromy i, ltu aoXqu.,e u .n explan .. ion of war .han are
ci""",,12f>OCI of ..:ces•• 0 Wa"' .......
.,1aCb
.h..,. •
E.1u ."" "'""'
Th. poi nt of ,hi. book h," bttn '0 undersund why war hapJlC1ls. No.
w.r . J • ,<1I.li,y of • 'ptci. l, 001 war aI an .M.rae. "" ltu .. 1panem, but
"".ua1 p .. c'i ~: war in wh ic h .eal ?tOPIc die.t parti""lar plae«
and 'tt"e •. M y explan ••ion i• • highly de.e.minil1k model applied .0
ob.. rved bfh • ."o •. Bu •• c.1 w.n a.e 1101 carried
by nlodel,. Wh.t
abuut the rn l peoplcl H • •• •hey nn soy In wh •• h.ppen,? And if tny
model i• •ighl, why hal 110 Yano",.",' ."er offered i. OI. n .xplaruuion
of why he 6gh .. ?
Seve.al yun ago (F<rguson 1 ~8~ b :J8-~2), I called ."e",ion ro .he
m.ony prohltms Involved in elki.ing emk fIa'emen" .hou,.he moli",,·
I,om Illal lead IQ .... r, and I advoated in"ead .n .pp~h tha, inf....
mot;"" frQtn a.c1ion_a1l
bell:l.ioral opPfOlCh. Bul the qucolion of
,he Y. nomami'II""ed .easons fur w•• deser."'" dil'tCl at\SWc<.
Ont .... We. might be III .. the Yonomaml do noc wanl the n~~ 10
know why lhey 6ghl.l, i, w.:11 documented t,,"l lhey OK . kilkd at m;S·
leadin, ouu.dc..- wi".rn thei' COII('t.lil\i deadly "'ids from mi .. ion·
•• ia who Io.>ned them IhoISU... , or II";.
La of fcrocious
kiJIer W.ilt;l., u.,...e.m, or ,heir fi"" _ho of romcdy at a..gnon',
exl'""" OY<:' .he bke ~...ulog.n. All Wem ...... amons Uw: Yaron.... mi u~",na ,heir nurlr oy<:rwhelml", demands fur rn.>nufactured
goods; .hot<: dern.>ndl cannot be rono..lcd. Bul how would miuionaria
and ocher wdl' mcilltl\i ~alffi"lCf1 rua if rhri . local Friendl expl.ined
w ;U ,"
OIl.
."e,
COlI"''''' ..
.hal people .... re being killed OY<: • • hem l R.~ngc, 6gb", <We. WOITICn
and wi.chc .. fr, on the orher barod, OK all ocapubk ... Iocal
.om."hin, tbe """W" II there IQ Jludy Of .donn.
Although de!ib.-nre .... nipula'ion of ouuiderl may b.- QnC rason
why YlnOJn>mi do DOl ofkr conAl •• <!'IV \J;'e..r:m gOO<h as an ""planalion of rhrit Iigh,'n" J would DOl push ,hilloo r.... Hdena V.ltW·11WO
fWTI.i""" I'fO\'lde on imide. ', pcnputi .... on tome wa ... and ,how ,11:1.
,he Yaoomamo do DOl u.ll< in l<rml of my model "'"" among dot:m.
.. h,,,,,. Indeed, if QnC ... ad ,hOK ,wo account:l and norIoing d .., QnC
would probably _ Napoleon a..goon'l 'Iicwt on war UI"OQI't attu .. re
than mine. V.ltm·. hu$band F... iwe-un ....... lly polygamous, hi&hly .,•
sr-i ........dy IQ mpond . ioIcmly IQ ~.oriwd in... I. -is . ;rtwtUy Uw:
a..gnonian ide.l. Bu. hll btll:l. ior doQ conform to the p.a''''rns J ha""
arsutd and documented, and the,,, are Indications Wt hi> real mOO....,.
fur war re .... ined umpokm.
Fusi .... began wa .. wi.hou. any .. poned .dr.ena to diff",.......i.l"".
ens 10 Wc:ltcm rn.>nufactu ..... H" ju"it>«! Uw: killil\i of Ruw.hi .... II
~"n~ for 1OKCf)'. Bu. ah e'lhe , Iaughte., hil kinsman Rcpowe",",,~
F...,...., in the loPe of.he oonct(1C, of killing lhe Shama.ari I>«ou.. he
wu leh OUt of .he I..ding of macht ... 10, dogs. I..a ler, when Bi5;la';tt t; provocationl.M his younMw wife', jibe. goaded him inlo ".ning
I war, FUliw( lied abou t his in'en,ionllQ hi, own people, while Valero
and OIhe.. openly lpecula.ed Ihat he wi. pu .. uing oome hidden agend •.
BUllh. must .. v.a ling incldcm in Valem'. n.mI,i.e occu ... with her
",ond hUlb.nd. F... il\i fo. hi l {)Wn ",fely.nd wanti ng the la'"ll" .. e of
.he ""'~, Abwr: go;Ided ",he. men with aCCUlationl of cowardia, ineili", lhem 10 toke ..... cngeon .heS"ila". It w .. I .ham_a m ...o give
him .. lf and V.lero an opportunity IQ nee IQ .he whiles. "The on ly .. lIOn
Valt.o lunlCd of the dec.plion was h«.usr: ,he wa' pan of ,he plot.
The pooilion adVQCll •• d hen: II thai ma •• rial interestS a.e convr:rled
i1l10 ..-al pointt for public dilC1)Ul"lC. E""ryOnc knowl ,he uis.ing circums.ances and wh •• may be al ... ke. Bu, basic '"",res.t, evCIl 10......
of life and dealh, COn only btcomc ...lities in • oocial world. ["".,..
thing el.. in life is piled on lOp oflhooc bask illlcrcsu: family. politico,
'Iatus, and .• bov. I II, • nluc Iy,tem . To beh .... "" a pun: ~...... """k
tn:In,~ openly and "'tionally wtishing COI".nd btndil> IQ decide 011
wa •• obI;....... 10 ,hil highly tCll'Urtd oocial ..... lity, would be, in a
cul.""'.. . :
wo.d, any.
Public d~ invoker. collecti"" n luco 10 pmuadc, 10 pu' pres •
on thooc wi,h milled fttlincs. to make_'s sell-i""'rat Iftm
an u p.wion or ..-.01 p. inciple. In the proa'$S, unadorned ma."";"J
I ....
IW .,;0111 tOollKlIlirI
,n'~,"" ~K pm in,o ~n idiom 01 n()rm:;Iri>~ behavior-an ..... n';.1 step
IOw.rd .ny coune 01_;.1 acllon bu, esp«ially """ in ... hich . perwn
may bo: ~alled upon 10 kill a ItI., iv. Of forme, f.i~nd. Bu, any poli.ial
di$Counc, howew. w~ll a.gued, will J>OT"$uad. Ofh ..... o Icccp • •M ri.ks
01 ..... only if .M """'"gt is romi, ••m wi.h .he li..""",..' ~If·intcr .....
I ftrongly ,1I,pect_wtlhout
moal1$ of p"'""ng i._ .h.t pr0ponents of mon.la"um(ntI belieYe in tM monlioy m. .........
Itas' 10
....... <kgru. h.haps ,hli II how ",k_ WOfU in StMral. "There ~re
COOlf"'l;'riydy kw propk. I btlieYe, woo mink 01 ~hu or !heir
aaionJ as ddibo:raltly "bad," no .....tteT how ... p ... hensiblt 0<Iw: .. may
find them. Moralioy, ~U oookrd, p ....idn m. m('IU for .r:I... la';ng
~neW" or "w;l.n. " into ".igh •.~ Beat .... actions in Wa' oh.n VONly yiola,...t.bli.\hN nor!R$ of bo:havior, the p, ... ure to r.uionaliu mu .. bo:
great. Combine these poi",. wi.h.he idea mat WMn a '0111 ",I •• ion,hip
is at ilS .... any componcn' "n lIand 10. tM whole, ••Id 'M dialog"..
""Q",ued by Valero-.Iong with 'M .,,-planat;"", giwn to .nthropolopst.- malt.. pcrlcct ......... "
•• •here ..,y mit fO< .gmq in undcmandi"8 Y~nonumi w ... far~?
Y." I. two ...... ds. If by ~gmq one ",kn 10 ind.",dulllwm:rn bo:ing:s
....aking choica mat .hapc II.. COUI"IC 01 b....".,. . .... t"" than ltmply ;oa.
ing
tM for«a
work throop ,hem, 'hll study
,pea"
fit'''ioo of itS oropt. Apin, lid.·" " Valero pn:Mdes ,he
dcuil ..
Valero tdl, "" ,hal FUliw. 1'I'""""l1y. though no, .Ione, tm,iated
Ih.« violent conflic", , h. tarly bilcd .~id again .. 'M Shama,ari, the
,laugh... of Ruwahiw.·, p""y, .nd tM wa • • gaiml Ihe Siua.i· I•• i in
whi(h h~ died. Fu.i~ wu .blt '0 do ,hi. bea ..... of. combina'ion of
lilua'ion . nd structu ••. n.. ' '' .... Iion was tM .ising OJIUgoni'm asooriated wim tbo: . i...... As ~r increases, <Mbo: .. li. ",n mO<e closely '0
'M man """h.he a"",",,~ penonalioy_.he ""ar ~........ The structure
W", h'l PO$1I;"" as h . .dman oItM Wani.im... cri. He had lO&pponCB 10
lead ,n'o WlI •. The "'I....11y I""",,~ but junior Aka_, ,n oomras" had
' .... li.uatton bu, no! . .... "ruclu,~. H~ , ...... Ied &om group 10 group. a
bow for hire by .nyone who would f..... him Of" off.r htln a wik.
Wh.1 diff., ence did f usiwe mak.? In my .iew, ,Iw:'e wu among
probabililY of WOT invol.ing.he Namowci at this lin ... )UI'" war wa,
brea king out all oY~' on ,he OIM' , ick of tht O,inoco.Bu, ,bo: """my aOO
aU,.net pan~rn could haye go ..... ry dilf••• ndy. Around 1 ~48, F""i_.
... Iuallyon hi. own, started ,bo: '""" be, ..." 'M ...... n Namowci and
'M Bi""';-,.n a' 5I>ihota. lhd ..... more p.=table Rtpowt: JIf"lIiIcd,
'ht . as'.m N"""",~, m,ghl ha~ Knw.lishrd pcatt, perhaps by ceding
OIl,
ou,
.Ju,
n,.,
a."""" ."..,..
_"'ary
women 10 .... S'oaatt " eri as rho P~""'owa·,.,.i d,d b'er. " b ybo: ,!>eo. ,h.
Namowci as a group would h.a~ found thmuclvcs loing 10 W.r again ..
otbo:rs., .uch as ' M l-!uupuw .... I•• i. n.. uooerlying m uclure of antag<>nisms "",de ....... warfa •• high ly likely. but i, ,e,n. incd for poli'i~al
~adc .. . o loCtual iu ' M pouibili rics.
Ag.ncy can .bo bt idenrifi.d on a""m., level: Iha' of iooigtnOO.
proplt', loCti~1y shlping lloci. coIlt-cti •• bi.tory. n.. Yanom.ami Irc not
paSltvely molded by romacl witb . bo: ou .. idc world. TI>ty h.a~:owes­
si..dy pursued lhei._n 'n" ....... n..y h.a~ ..... ped a poli.ical miliro in
responor ...
inlr\lSi~ W.,,= ~. which il ... 11 is Iarp:ly beyond
thei. romrol. looetd, one oovld ... y ,ha• • Iong ,he ban"" of the Orinoco,
il was tht YOJ\Om:lmo wbo made ron...... w;lh lho outside """"Id, .... tb~r
,han 1M "'VttlC. 'Iloa' 'M re.ul. of YanQm;\m; mancuw , ing ;s often
quit. terribl. for ,bo:mselveo i. 00 surp.ise. gi~n ,~t circumstan«$ . h.y
faoo ~nJ ,hei, f.lhbili. y as bUm;\n .... ing'.
m.
In mis 1ina11CCll0fl. 1 will atll;m~ to apply ~ broadly KKnc 01 lho
Ibcmrs developed in this book, 'W1ing wuh ..... illue 01 how an.h_
poIogi ... ~pprwch lloci. lubicct
Ahhou&lt t1 il fashiom.ble '0
decry $C;.nlik aPJl108' .... and cau.al lheori., in ,ho Itudy of ", llU'.,
~oo al.hough cullural "",.., ;al;sm i, deri<lcd in panicola •• tht yiew of
Yanomami poli liCll dc>-.Iopcd h.... g"'w 001 of art appli.alion of lhe cui ·
.ural m.a .. rialtll principle 01 infns.""",,,,1 d.' •• m;ni,m (~Ferguson
n.d.b). Tha. ,heory dir«lcd me _~rd ..ttl ,0000-;I.m, the cul.ur~
oI..,thropoIosy hu Ktmohow "'~ 10 itIMgnificanc.,. And althou&Jt
this ,uady mi&hl bt pcrocivcd as similar 10 OIhe. rc«nt ch.alknga to
..... blishcd ctJuoosr:aphi( pomay;ttls, ;. i. no ~rcis.t in rellcJri~ con·
IettIpla'ion of our own discourse. I, is . .... t...... ",.ffirmation of 'M
value oIthe comp"",'i~ method.
One 01 the billll'" prob~ml facin, .."h.~y lo.by is a lack of
mong ,heory, romp;<n<ti.dy applied. The pro,.in hypol he,i._ahhough
! di •• gree wi,h i, as an ~"plana.ion of wor_ has bo:.:n a ' ren'rndous
lrimul "" fnr reKarch,.oo our undc, runding of Amazonian otology i.
much richer bea. ..... of ;1. A ai,icism of , hIS book. I fccl
will bo:
the au,hordid no ~eldwork :among lho YanomamL BUI U the pc .....
~ng ..ade .... 11 __ :apptrciatc. a hugr amoum of matuial;, ~IKady
ou, m.tt, ~ll bast<! on ~ ... haoo Itltprrimrt. Wlu, has been done with
ma'....
,ha.
'=.
, I
i,? Hekn. Vak'o's ru""u;vn; art incompa .. bk <1hnogtaphic sourcn,
but 110 one ha. m.de ~rious use of them. An.hropology is ~lIi n8 w.re·
hous<:. with inform.. uon. Con we not uS<: this :ocrumulating I"'owl«lge
to gene .... bene, theory?
My bop< ;, .Iu •• be .heory dev.,1op«I tn this "udy oook! be pur
01 a more oom~hrn>i"" 1II'O'...andi'" of """r. The model I develop
and apply.o YOJIQ'n.> mi .... rfare i. an If'pl;carion of a IttoO<C gent ..1ap·
p<O:Kh, tailom;! to .he panirulors of.he ~. There are a ",,01 ... nge of
~warrifying" .i,uatiollf In Irib.ll WII . . ( l:e~uWfl 1990b; F.rguson .. nd
Whi•• head 1992.0), and m y pr."n. model would requite major modI·
lkauon if it _re applie<! to any bu< ,he mos, .imilar of .hem. Wi.h
othrr appli"",iQns oi the gene",l approach, " IOUUId be p<»>ible to better
un<knund major pa ... mo:rcn and permutations in "'M ........IQrII. It
miglll nm be p<»>lble to work toWard. gent",l uOOcrsundi", of social
conHiet, spanning the spectrum from war to witchcraft accusations and
on '0 rc>"iuliza.ions. e,hnic vio~. dlss ronHi<1, and r<voiurion. A
distant id •• 1to be sure, bu •• ny p.ogrei$ toward it would be comm.",l·
able in .. world ladng .. COIlstantl y changing and seemingly wOI"SCning
pano"'''''' of vioknct!.
Anocher issue: aritcS from rhe diffe.c", ..,perlati""" that can be applied to ,be Yan.orrum. as a case HUdy. Althoush I h.a"" suuseci the
role of W..",m con.lCf. i. is nn"cnhclHs true that the Yanomami ha""
been more i.ol"ed from W.. terne .. Ionge •• han any orhr. large group
Qf Nati"" Ame.ican ~k. Th")' ... nd as the end poinr_Ihr oute'
limit-of . he post-Columbian, New World ",b.l.one. Po, others with
more history of exPOlutc to W." .."..., ~he 'm»'lCI 01 Wc".. n pr(s(!J'lCe
should be cven greatcr than tlo.t described here.
The Yanom:uni lo,....c.1$o acquired in popular and somt anthropoIopcal b~raturc a r~",tioo for brin, the Ill>Il5f .."rfike people on
eatlh. This $Iudy lhows how mislead,,,,.och ."'~rnen" On be. Si>rnc
Yanomami in S(IflW pl.,.. and tirnes ha"" been cxtrtmdy w:ulike, but
mOSt Y.nomami In nlOSt plac.. and timn h... been pea.ce.ble. And th~
vioknt period'_ I have argued, are c.u"d by circumstanCei introduce<!
by Inrru,i,'. W"i~erne ... Consi<kr ing the Yanomomi', ~mo~t rcmote~
stIlU', .""Iy... should I'roctt<l with calli;"'" in alleging ~ ha. ,,"y 00·
~ .. cd waria", .mong nonst.re pccpIcs anywhere is a purely indig(D()U1
~ttem."
Fo. anothtr superl.tlv" the Y;momaml a •• one of the -,imples."
soc;eti •• for which warfa .. has bc-tn well descr ibed. Contrn.y '0 IIOmC
rcccnt thinking, I s« I\Q contradiction botWttn histOrical expl.nat ion
and evolutiorury comp"riwn. My ",ocher Morton Fried (1967, 196')
developed his evol utionary Iheory in oonncaion with In inv .. tigation
of the posrronta" ge". .. tion of tribes. Evolutionary romparison, as I
unck~... nd it. docs not prt"Swnc any people to be prill'nc, unch:mgod
....... ivon of.htc Slone: Ago. Rather." usa C1ltnograpbi( descripcion to
explore:.1ot ;mp~cations of organlt.;uional or other learum asooci.:o!cd
with diff~ .. nt kvell of societal ocale and romplexiry.
The Yanom.>mi show u. war It i""maUt:st aDd with .he Ie..t .mount
of political itrllCtuting pil~d on tOf!. The politi,al p~ 01 Yanomomi
warfare-.II its di""",.ion , d'''ption, alli.nce building, Inilit.ry re·
cruiuncnt, and 50 on-I, probably our clearest windo", on how war il
carried ou. in any ,.; ..... tion wherc people Ii"" in In\a.11, shifting grouP'
without ""y bas;' for fixed or au.horitau"" leadtrship. Ahhough il i. my
posilion both for rhe Yanom.om; .Dd in SCf\Ccal (Fc:'IUIOft 1989b:I97,
1993) th.t wu is an inuequcn. (lCCUrr ..... _ g small, .d..
bile groups who h."" not been <kstabilizN by. uibal wnc, to wha~r
extont w•• was w.gcd by such group, in the dist.m past, i. wu probably waged sQrnelhing lil<c this.
Ycr .. thc .... me rime, Yan.orrumi /i&hting, when ",. Iook beyond the
pain. and fc.,hen, _
J\QI unlike war as pracriccd the world ""cr. A
conIempo.....,. military analyst, made """...... ,.tiw 01 tilt practicalities of
Yanomam; exis!cnOC, would Iu"" no problem wtdc ..",ndi", the logic
and prac"lice of their warf..... Th.,. thr Yanomami as a cut: IU"JU" .gainst
the idea, I..",.d by Turney·High (1971) but acttpted by many amhr<>poIogi"$, Iha. Mp,i m itiv~'· and ··cjyililcd·· war oomti,ute .wo qualita·
tively dillifl(t Clt~gori .... On the other hand, Yanom.",1 w.rfa .. i. very
diff.,..,nt in ~ h.t i,. small ocale .11ows it .0 be "ud.icd in ilf full :racial
context, with", whi(h nujor permutations can be rompam;!. ThaI goal
mass;"" "",",lIl'h projocas diis far beyond the rucb of C¥CII ,lot
~ a. modem .....
I have 0fJUC<l (F(rguwn 1984b: 1-2) th.:>t it is the poqibility of de·
veloping a more conlpkte theor.tical picture that constit\ua anthropology'< grUtest potential contribution to unders'andlng the human
problcm 01 wa •. In that ipiri~, ~vcral infcrenct1 with rontemporary
relov:lI"lCC nuy be d rawn £rom the y.nomami cut:. Rm, war il not a
IUIturalll3tc of albin for human tocicties.. It is no! the norrn.>l condi_
tion, icayi", pea... rhe ........ Iu~ neWs to be cxp!>;ncd. Vlnomam.i do
not go eMily into war or .....y .here k>ng, although .hei. p<OtlCtTeI:I to
war """ vary with Ioc.ol hisTory. It rook seve ...1 yea .. lor the 5i..... i·
tcri and e.sto,n Namowci to 80 from peaa to war.
,""ty .......
n""'.
""*
"" I 1........ ,
! ,,~ ... !
j~ .!
JUI ..1
Scoond, WlIr ,$ noc ",I f' perpcruating. 11>< «»ti ilK tOO bigh. BUI "''''
can be &df.~,nfutci"&- In combina,ion with OIMr pralu, " ,<n.cud nolenee, W3t itlotl£ Iow~rs 'M th,..,.hoId for w:l' and pua '''''' position. of
gn-atff inHLJ(1'O« ~ who art p""'" fO UK milituy force. f rom • ~
gional sy,ums perspccli"", 'M introduction of war m.y ""Icc. "'" <he
possibility of nonvioic:n' <CSOIution of .n,.psms (S« ferguson 19900:
29, 19931. In . um, opling for war maka furure war more liktly, bul
:IOmelhing el", i. alway. involv«!.
Third, ,h<f~ i. nothing in " Dy of Ih. aceou",s of wor bc,we.n Y.IlOmo mi w mmunil;eo '0 "'ggeo' the ulrib.l Ioyaltie.~ k> freq uentl y invoked by pundit. trying to .xplain 'his or thaI conA icT in ' he Dlodern
world. IndeN, .he in·group .milyl""'·gtoup enm i!")' often pooited by
ethologislu"d sooobiologim >«m. here a ""-'" fickle ",ntimem. when
.mity and enmIty regularly mift wi.hin ,Ite Wn( _ial uni,tn<. The
Y«uona· Y.nomami rdalionship eumplifies how cui.,.,,,,, diff...,,,=,
rha. coincide wi.h fund ...... ntal """e"al anrsgonism, an f""O"ide den n"ion 10 UI!C'''« hostility, bu. only th2l.11>< cubu~1 dil'krmoes a.., no(
.M a .... o f .M conflicts.
Founh, a uncgati"" irnoF of tM OIhert sometimes JUggCScN as tha,
dimtnsion of wa. on whi~h . nrhropology can shed $Or!\< I,ght, IS 'lKlf
N.mo.>nle",ly an expr .... ion of conflict, not illl cau ... Thlllr 'M
"'ei, .l~.dy pushed to lhe b.ink of w;or, decided Ih., 1M 1I;...,;·,.ri
,..ere no' ,Ne N.nlOW<"I af<er a n, and .ha. i. why ,hey n .... d 00 mu<h
trouble. tlUI th is re<:alegorizalion was to upl. i" ,..hal wOlIalr..dy happening. Any . ".L1\pt .0 under ... nd why ,..ar cx:cu " thaI ,.ke. negative
imagel of the .nemy as;to main fcx:u. is puning 1M can before ,he hO!"$e.
Fiflh, war is bad bu" ne ... I argue tha, war i, initiated becau,,", Ihose
who decide on war think they will be bcr.leroif light,", than not. Ye. it
don rIO' al"11)'1 W1J"£k OUt that way for the dedlion "",kers. When l he
for ~'eryone involved are tallied up and compared wilh "",.
' 01.1
SIble oulcomes of oonBicfi"ll ;",erato in 11>0 a,,"no< of war, war', net
«fee< ., des'r\&Cri"", any possible adaptiye benefilS noc wilbstandi"ll (S«
Ferguson 1999c: 2S8).
Su,h, undenundi"ll war requires close scru,;tt)' of ,ho.. who nuke
poI,uul dec,';"", and what <heir inletaU nuy 1M: in •
of
wa, or pta«. nLL' ..,quires an undelStanding of lhe dYlULm;cs of poIit;'
cal proceu, which in lum requires .".mion '0 ,"",I. of evolutionary
complexil y. In re l.riy.ly egalita,ian _i • .," ILk. ,he Y."omami, almost
e""ry nron c.n tnake up hi. own mind whether ,0 fig hl, based on hi . o wn
ovo lu."o n of ci rcu "" stances. At lhe olh •• cnd of .he .... ol1J1;o nory j.c:Ile,
n".m
co.'.
p""" "",,"ian
II II 'm ,.,"WIG, l • •
in "a,.., deci...... -rn:lking abiUty i, ytrf utleq ... l: ..... n an be, rompeJIed
go 10 war, and ime","", in any poli,ieol si'Ualion will ""ry acoording
10 a pttSOn '. pooilOon within .he stfUClure of "rari6c:.rion.
Sc.trnth, and fuully, whm lIudyi"ll deci.ion rn:lU~ i. should be
renl<'mhe.ed lha, ~ often Ii•. They ~allhei. fTU< mot;ves.. Tl>ey
skillfu lly employ commonly M id ""Jues to mako ,hrir favored <:OUISC of
aCl ion appea, 10 be a motal imperative 'n ,he im• ...,.1 of everyone in
. hei. society. But perhaps mon: insidious ,han pl.in manipulation i. that
decision make .. may very well .ome 10 believe th<ir o,..n .. If·serv ing
j""ifiCltion •. Critical uamin. , ion of any lnoral claim by any pol itical
lead<:r jlllr.ifying war i, alway. in order.
10
\. All th;,; '~"8 «lit<! ,,"•• dy "" ~'. fi .... portray.1s of tl><
y.,..,.,..mi.nd
wm, indudi", "'" protruner><e of "",,0;.," 0<Ct_.
Th'" Ch.agnoo
1981:86.l9no:9J ) ""~ ....... prottin hypod><·
>is by c\a,""IlS" <Ionia ilia. Yo"""""" 6ch' ""'" wom<1l. Thi .....,tIC<! i.
,lin.
«"',
OOI',ndiru:d by nn ......_ cit&< " ............ of h" "1'1"""""- ,i>roty (... F<rtI\',
nd
"'" 198~b:180). 1'11< deb ... beI ..... n 0<1 ........ of It.< rr--n hyp<)!besi ••
C~ i. "'" .bout who<ht. V"""","",i 6gh' ,,",,' ..".".." bIIt obout whot
,h<o<y bat .~pbinl tb"
2 .... ftcr h.lt"rn 10 ..,.Oobi.o!o&Y, Cit.""", (Ch>~oon, Ainn, .od M.I.n<OO
19" :30s-Ji)9) dropptd .11
,hI' c;"ul .. """"",,hip... "",11 .. hi.
p'e""'" d.im, ,hot ou ,.,io" binh c<:><dJ "," be ,,"uro«ly d"trmin<d. H.
b<gon 10 .. guo ;" .... d ,h., y.""",om; had. i i... bin h wio of .!>out 129 m.l..
t<> 100 k""la. After """idcring vor;"" ... OIon' (Of doubling tII i. propoul, I
con<lud<1I (fefllt>OOn 198'c,lH) 'hat "un~ """" ........... ,.J.ne< i. p,es<n«d
to ,upP"" the ,nwed .•• "o-.,·b<nh hy"",,,",,i .. it un be rei«.«I:
In his.-<ll ...... 1<. Chagnon (19920:93\ d .,,,,,
'''''I'r«! publishinl
k""'~ inf.nticide
1985 bo«w< ..,..,. Vonn<><lon poIi.;.;w, •
..~<ed,., u.. lli.
p<OO«'U'" 'I'_.m, fo. """dc<. Th .. d aim does
_ ",,,,,Old, rd\tcI tile dt><tLopmtn. 01 ,hOI tl<bat<, ..
,\<octibcd. h does,
I",...... con~rm "' •• own ChaptIo> hal d,opp«\ ,lie ~l •...,.eJ·
, ......... bonh hypoo ....... \IfIh'" I cu .. ,nly ,y"",".hiu .. ith hi> tthic>1 dil<mma.
hoo ..1<n<e now obo.......t1 dots not hr:lp rcooM .hr: odenrifi< q<l<",;.,m..
1. o..gnon (l99la:") .p,n rniI.'<I"<$<Ilt> his """""",II' pooition whon
he ......... ,hoi ,hey .1>.",' ............. ,8 kill he< ........ _borto to mal«.hI:
I\f',;....
,of.,..... '"
.boo,o.
.It"
findo"",.,
,hi. ""
i"'''
•
'ml ft rom llt-&l , IGI
• OllIS It ""'illI-II
pr<><Ioctm; ID .nonItty pr<>Uift lot It"..... ""hobo;•• of ~ ".""p."
"'" ",0""""" fo< kmak .nlODUcid<, ad>"OC2leS of .Iot pr(Offtll hy·
pOth<$io merdy tool: a...gnoo 0, hi. word.
4. It io ....,..m """i"8.hot fo< oil ,10<,. diffcrn>:a, uzot ODd CluS""" (1~74 ,
I. _
Repnl~
77, 1977, 16.1) ~gr.. "" .. ..,..10<, f.,.lo""",,.I_ .oo rmpirieolly \III.<.ppo,,~bl <
_"'Ump';"'" tha, w>rfor~"is .r>d<",i< """'~g all prlm;,;"<1 {>Wpi .. - (Lim'
1979, lSI, <mplus.. in .... ;go"").
5. Bu, I do no< ogt .. • , au ... "h Li",,', (1991,62) di ........1of ,he ohtn ow·
.. go:ouo <1< ........ foe W<>ttrn goodo ,110, 1"""''''' """" di • ..,....,. .. toto ... -to.
" " ' _ thon fi&ura 01...-.. !CO lemiDd Ih< oth<r of Ih< - ' " 00 aclo.arogc.
6. In.....,.het ru.c-, Li..,. 11969:3 1-32)....m In'ftaI poo ........ ith
.. hlCh I .... in romp!<to< ....." ... 0: 'hM 0 v..na,-of motJ .... SO into ... , war,
,Iu, ,he 6n.ol inrid.tu .... , kadot to • WOO" ...., be .....u, "'" dnona_ in ......
I,,""'h.p I<"'" bod, and .... , undtn'.ndi01ll: ..... fC'IUirn dow ........... '''''' of
~,".ge h"",,;" and u...",maJo< ..I•• """, Who,
doa "'" off.. " any Iuy
'0 .~pbirun, m.ojo, yar.ltioo in ,hoot hi.to<;" and
IoIh,.h<y ..,....,.
,ime> gr' !CO th< poin' "f vooirn, <I<'.,....'i"".
7. I" • foo'nott to tIoi. Ji"",,,,Ofl, Liz", 11991:72) 10><1. >eV.,,1 "i,ki"",
a" ""nu,""ripl ..' .."" of m, "'I'"'" "A S,y'B< !'.nooun,.," (Forp'IOtI 199.!.a).
0..." lha, law_hed my llOOy wi,h. ,hwry ",oa./y <1.too... ~. In 0 brood
_ , ,ho, .. I..... , ohhool.Jh ,he ....... ollhwry wao «"ically ....... Iu ..rd .nd
'p«ilitd rtwoop
ol y....,......,.; cu< .... ouu.l.IIuo" .. d,fficul, to
w>dtn,aod h<M- Uzo< nn _
, ...... 0 aiOK ..... whm his OWn _ _ h " ,
d oppIicat_ ol .... "'""" of M ...... and Uvi-Stn_ l.ouM also
acaooa .... .,k<;tt.. p<a<tllOI,on ol d.o .. and iporins comovy ,nlonna,,,,",
.I,houy. he oHe.. no .pectfi<$. I do not xa-p< tho <ritic:iocn ,n r<prd to .... ,
onlCk . """ i, «,.. inl, can"'" b.t laid of 'h" book .... hlCh
",y ,hooty '0
..... ,y ...,.te cao< of Y~oom.m' ..... ,1.... duo, I <Ollkllind.
S. The i<l<. m.. -"ib.l" J'<OI1I .. mak<
kt .... 10 be p.n 01
.he bro.<I<, eoo><ep.u,1 divide implici' ,n 00' dichoromiel b.t, ....... I,mI'M: vee,
.... «ompl"", nons .... yen ... ""'. ond, "'I'«i.lly, primitive ....... civi l,,'" wu
(kt T... ".,..H'i/l 197 11. [, """kI JOlInd lOOi<rwo 10 , _ ,
Wo<ld W.. n
.... 0 «>o"Itin ... ,,,," ol Worid War 1 fo, .... uk< 01 ''''''''I<, but ,f ,hr..,.k we ..
mIo.n<I '0 ,he Y"""""""i bd, duo ••"""""riution prohal>ly _Id b.t .'"
ploed. Thc role of ICW'<"I" in d.. oonIli.cto of _
propk ....., aao,u.ll, he
. . . . . . . to ,he '"""" ol hdtofy" '" <roo><Itm oocimn .nd oquoUy 'UbjocllO
pOI""",1 ....... opulaDOll.
9. Ot.o._ ( In~b ,S6n ~ .... 10 chri/y whethet I bd>nc ,ho,
·h........ ..., ~ by ""'....1 odrcrion '" ....1<. ~ ,hot gen<nU, in·
ems<
,;.1 hroc1i!$.- I do (II« F'"'lI"""" 1~84b:H-38). B.tn no <>rot
C<.>tIIJ """.ibl, doub< ,h., hum ..... rr """....rd '0 .... in .. i" ,he '<SQW"«ll.OO
,aft" netded 10 .u",.,., wlo<,..s"" ... 'irely hypoohe'ical ,h .. ,hey arr moti·
.ated by an w>eooociOllS ,oproJ""'i",, ",ivinB' My . k.",lCilm i. di,«,ed '0 ....
prop<.><al ,h., ,h., hypooheticol """i •• would ron!" .nffioeno odd",,,,,,,] ,<produc1 ... a.l.ut'.g< 10 he .... in ... inrd by ,,"'unl odrc,;"n ,n our biovom opiml
,he ,....."ku d"ft of ","'..""'.
u-
""'>Om. '"
0lUItUII0'' ' '
....""'Io.w..
ol
.wI'"
w., {", ,"'."..
,Ito,
,hei, "",..
10. o..gnon (198!;td6il ) do,""
...., I ·oenouot, "'•..-p<eSrnI" ,he loas
-It".
whm I PI' (~ln9d:564).
"""""""I_,n A"",,,,,,,,",, «hnog.
,"""y, or 10... so_ LeYi S, .....• (l9H ) f""""" .mek , ,hoi hra.lmao Iu .... """"
wi ... .00 """" ' hi!dre<1." H, """', .... IChay>on 1999b:568), 'If
kDO..t·
ed~ ;. wid«pl<a.l, i, ""nnot be b.oed on very much ''''pi,iatl C"ioo.u." I
will cooccd. half ,he poOn" e,hro<>&nph<n h••• bc<n mo ... In ........ d in I•• den·
1'1"",1 wi ... ,h.n , he: numbo, of ,hoi, colf.pring. Ru, on ,he nLI"<I of 10.<1<,,' poly,yny, [ ... put, ,h. foc:' to '" routinely ~d
i, i. ""'rely 0 """""""rio«.
0 ...... ( 1~!l7 ,31) for
<Otnmc>ttJ
ell,,,,,,,,,pbi<
foe
Iowt.n.l Suut!t Americo
..-Iy.1I ,,,",,, _ ....... w ....tnoer
, ..... .,."" 01 oodu-pd.itin/ ""'.,. and ~p/t1C ..... , .-;:.pi... po!ypmy;
and oJ""", an ol diem ro:c:osnw: " .. the t>Ru.IIy """Iuoioc pnvikge of dw: dtid."
II . a.._ 1191"':'") ...... thot I aowmc!ho'"otfopnn& procIuction
by ....... ;.. WDpIe funttl(ln ol "P"3o tIu. io, Iho, oil ....... pocItoct Ihr &am<1lllDl'
ber of ofuprirts if thq It", 10 hr .......... ag<." Tho< is onoche, 01 a..gooon'.
......... mrn. Who, I do" y on 'hr poom is do .. - .. a 1<'W'!I nun ",",til,..., he to ...
""". li kely '" Iu .. more c~ildf ... ." .... deme<t,.ll' ob.,,rv,rion
i, ob>io.r.
in Clusoon ·. own d. ...
12. Ch"V>"" .""bu... '0"", ",he. po ••
I do not hold. H< claims
,hOI [ dism," htl ,heucy ....tonS simply ~ .. i. i, _tOblOloekol (elu_
lm.,(9 ). Of <Ollt>< ,hot to "" invoJid .. oy 10 upk, ol,hou&it Chop>an mal<.,
i........, kind ol i""-&m<nt opi"" ~ ... who luft not adopted DeW
bloIogiaJ modds (19901>, 71, 1"20,93; Clu.gooon ond H _ 1980, ].4n, H<
....... (19901>,'~) 'hM l _ _ 011 bwnon r"I''''MiQr,o ore opptOKhi"8 th.;,
cony"" copac:ity. M,....cd pcwoi_ I~ 1~: J2) .. d.a,samc ..........
;, .... "1'",,","" "I. is ~ _ ....i..1oIo ..... human populorions .. pand
... til thq an otopp<od by ..
cnociol . -.:t." a..gooon 1199.!.a:
91_92) d,im>Iho, nLloui,l'" <DOdc-Io ,n genm.11oaoo on rho 10..1 DI !he ",,"p
on<! Igronrt individual·k>d " ....p';ng. A,I dtllC\ll,rloewhe ... (F<rJP'''''' 19Ub,
]5-381, rha, critlClS'" w. . . .lid up '0 'hr mid. I ~7o.. but no Ionge,. Certainly
my tIo«><)' in , hi •• 01 ..... il mIlCh more """""nc<I ... i,h ind.. idua l ",,,.gi<i ng
than wim 1he .... n'i. lI, IVOIIp, .. kctl"" model Ch. gnoo h" """' r<e<noly P''''
.Ito,
docu_.
i"".n<c.
,Ito,
,Iu, •.....Iu.....
"tee."""
,Ito,
,ion. '""
.,,,,,,ol_
.~
~
d . ..... d...,
durina. <OIl~ _
both ottcndod
u..
a, . he School of
Am<ricoo Rcs<an:h in 191&, 11IIOdt·. stal<tn<nf 10
foIJowi>tl ,/fnl: '1 don',
..-.dent.oo why ."'" ~ .." ktqt bMgi"'l .. 'tpfo,h'e,ion. AI"" .u,
if ,.... ...... a>cJo>Sh to ..... l<f"Odu<oion is .....".....,..koo
(d.ognon.
19l1%,'67, my <mpba... ). "" ondnt>« I l n9b,S6~) adds, - B ~..,.,..,........-n<
both .. pe-~ oM heord by tho """" doun Of ' " adt.<t- porticipanu in
.....,....rioc'-
the .yntp>Siurn.- Shoo-tly there.1t... "" or. told: "The ... umprion "whm pool!>k
ho .. <tOOUgh '0 .. ' reprO<fuctoOn """"" .....·kss ,.",,,to,ie' to. "'""'" delta
in hi. appr=ch" 11989b :567). AI p'CS<"Dted,
i•• "'lIt .".. "",n,. I could
no' ",,,,<mOO or ''''"'B'OI< ,",y i"3 it."" I ob .. ined ,1>< ..""" of ,he discu..iOIl. 01
OU' two "''''''' in ",,<I<, 10 cbcdr. I lound DO .""h " ...",to,. WhO! J did .. k
au""", to <xri~in ""' w~.. ,ho calcul.rioo 01 incl"';.. fi,,*,, odo.Ird '0 an
otr>dcn .. ndi04l of hrio ••"", _
.. d ro tho fIl.lkfUJ .ariobln I " ...... ood rho,
is ........ y dw: ~ ch .. ,pcnon dtsa.bes tID! <l<to:". (McCauley 1990,1-4).
n. Who, I ... augoot''''I ;"ko,
do ............ '" sunilar '" "'Iu,
.ho,
y.""""""
101 • • ~ · rs II "'11\ III - II
an''''n'''
00_ An<h<op<>Iop ... fnquo<ady ~Iodee Ib,.. an "'_ demand
.,00.
th<io- ;.......0;...
boo< ,bry .....W..... n
~
,ho, ...dot in thr <!bnov-ophy
!O
""';rono,
<1'1"'" "" "-., ........"inI· cun...1
""n...
Y.-ami 100 do~ !h<v .nrnrion '" ....,.. ma..d .....unllt-ttl..
14. Kn.uf< ( 1"3: 1"6) taka ...apei..." .. m., pooorion and <I... inoeno<
I*w GIOIOtlI .. &II . . ta in ........ /1 edu>ost.oph", documM..""", m"e'-I • ...uf....
-""" ~bIT iIllI....ud by ..... ..,.,.."...." Iu Wl",.h..d ond 1,.,.. (f...., •
..,.. and WIli!dorad 1"2a:6).
N<w Gu_•.. . _
'" 01.""""'"
01. ,he .........mNl for tdoavdy ...... in< Inri...;,... .............,. • " "
onIhwnc:d ""'1he;p.o..d Of ...... poriI.
For ,roo........... SalUbury ( I~l), on< 01. thr ... 00' andoo""""""",al tioId ·
worktn III thr Ju&hbnd< (in. I~S2I md tb. MMhor ""'" Q)O .. t,,><d .."h ,he
""I*' 01. ,ord ........ ~ ...aa. .......d • pi .................. irIorodua<I by
up&o.tn '" 1911 ( 1 ~:1I4). """'" .. ~, ....."" Worid W.. II, w .....
....... dt<o ......, b'l:dJ obomo /rom .... S~ O<d boo< ,oed 000lo wen: fih ..........
,hroup. """""",,,..........,.n, "dIc-... .......... ocaIIted ill ,he"",,"I"''' v.l,
loy, In ",hod> y.u..~ ....... burned ..... 01... uilt<!." coonp.ort<l wid! onIr kubunu .... on • omalkr
d...... Iho: p<eYiouo 25 ,..... He odds on • ~_:
on.. ...... "md ho, b<ot renwIo:td fo< "'........ ioIJoo,.'''I ~ ... QJRIXI ... ott.
nonn&.
-"""land
oc.o"
E""'P< ..... "'" ..... ,..,.y ;., HiplODd N<w Gu ..... "'" tIorou&houo .... halle.
W'n"" ,he ocaI< I<ftI ill I~JI-f5 wuuId Iu... <o""lIy
",holt
So .....",." (Solnhury 1%2: I I &---I~) .
n.. '"' I~JJ is "'" me totl.... do .. ,tot "..".,..1 """,Id im,,<np"d on
101.;., .... N<w Gun,.. rushland, (t« fril l ~ln. n.. poon, tot", io "'" I<) d, ......
p.J '" mln;mi.. 10<0.1 000«<0 01 ronAkt, bu, '" ...... ,h.. ,1><1 ,I>ould be """.
oidcTed in
ro poooib" ",..... :auoci.,..J "'im .....
O."'y,
e....... ,11 "';0'1 in ... hich ,ud. >ttc>iCI .... i...
or .... """,.. i .....,. bu,
mat "","",,,,ioo elmlOt bt ............. '" bt , ....... i, '1Pi<:olly " .. be.:n.
dn-.".oed ....
,ha,
,eI."""
,5'''&''''
n.,......,...