Review of Sanumá Memories: Yanomami Ethnography in a Time of Crisis. Alcida Rita Ramos. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995. xx, 346 pp. (paper).

As I have done considerable research among the Yanomamö,1 it was with anticipation that I received notice of Alcida Ramos\u27 publication of Sanumá Memories. This work is a useful contribution to the large and still expanding research on the Yanomamö, an Amazonian people who have become a classic case study for anthropology and the social sciences. They are probably the most widely read about tribal people in the world, largely a consequence of Napoleon Chagnon\u27s immensely popular ethnography Yanomamö: The Fierce People (first published in 1968 and the most recent edition in 1992). The Yanomamö have become a focal point for theoretical debates concerning the causes of warfare among tribal people, the promise of evolutionary biological theory in the behavioral sciences, and most recently, and lamentably, they are internationally known as victims of grave human rights violations. Ramos\u27 Sanumá Memories was first published in Portuguese in 1990 as an update of her 1972 doctoral dissertation (The Social System of the Sanumá of Northern Brazil, University of Wisconsin) supplemented by several return visits to the Sanumá (as recently as 1992) yielding additional chapters. A number of the chapters have been published as journal articles in both Portuguese and English. Based on the work of Ernesto Migliazza, the Yanomamö are divided into four ethnolinguistic groups: the Sanumá or Sanema with 3,200 speakers in about 100 villages, threequarters of which are in Venezuela; the Yanomamö with 11,700 speakers in 171 villages, with about 80 percent in Venezuela; Yanomam with 5,300 speakers in 64 villages, nearly all of which are in Brazil; and the Ninam (or Yanam), with perhaps as many as 850 speakers equally divided in Brazil and Venezuela. The work under review here is the most systematic account of we have on Sanumá social organization. Other major works on the Sanumá by Kent Taylor and Marcus Colchester focus on ethnobiology, ecology, and economics

The Allocation of Parental Care among the Ye\u27kwana

It is well known that human children require more care or parental investment than any other primate species (Lancaster and Lancaster 1983). While this dimension of human behavior is well documented in the psychological literature for Euroamerican populations (Babchuck et al. 1985), it has received scant, quantitative attention by anthropologists working among tribal populations (for exceptions see Whiting and Whiting 1975, Katz and Konner 1981, Hurtado et al. 1985, Hewlett, this volume (Chapter 16), Turke, this volume (Chapter 10)). The role of alloparental care (care of non-offspring children) has received even less quantitative attention by social scientists (for a review see Weisner and Gallimore 1977) although it has been a growing theoretical concern of evolutionary biologists (Skutch 1961, Brown 1978, Reidman 1982, Emlen 1984). The primary goal of this chapter is to describe the allocation of direct care to infants by sub-adults and adults among the Ye\u27kwana and to show that the degree to which an individual engages in caregiving correlates with options an individual has for enhancing his or her inclusive fitness

Monoculture, Polyculture, and Polyvariety in Tropical Forest Swidden Cultivation

A number of researchers have suggested that polyculture is characteristic of native tropical forest swiddens and have adduced theory from community ecology to account for its adaptiveness. Ye’kwana and Yąnomamö swidden cultivation is examined, and it is shown that polyculture is not practiced to any significant degree. Instead, the concept of polyvariety is introduced along with a number of other cultivation practices that more simply account for the adaptiveness of Ye’kwana and Yąnomamö gardening. In addition, comparative data from other parts of the tropical world indicate that polyculture is no more common than monoculture and recent advances in ecological research indicate that the diversity-stability hypothesis that underpins adaptive arguments of polyculture is in need of drastic revision

Impediments to Peace: In Response to ‘The Evolution of Peace’ by Luke Glowacki (December 16, 2022)

A response to ‘The evolution of peace’ by Luke Glowacki (December 16, 2022) While effective institutional practices are critical for the evolution of peace certain factors deter their effectiveness. In-group and out-group dynamics may make peace difficult between culturally distinct groups. Critical ecological conditions often lead to intractable conflict over resources. And within group conflicts of interest most prominently between generations may inhibit effective peace makin

Cultural and reproductive success and the causes of war: A Yanomamö perspective

Inter-group competition including warfare is posited to be a key force in human evolution (Alexander, 1990; Choi & Bowles, 2007; Wrangham, 1999). Chagnon\u27s research on the Yanomamö is seminal to understanding warfare in the types of societies characteristic of human evolutionary history. Chagnon\u27s empirical analyses of the hypothesis that competition for status or cultural success is linked to reproduction (Irons, 1979) and warfare attracted considerable controversy. Potential causal factors include “blood revenge”, mate competition, resource shortages or inequality, and peace-making institutions (Boehm, 1984; Keeley\u27s (1997); Meggitt, 1977; Wiessner and Pupu, 2012; Wrangham et al., 2006). Here we highlight Chagnon\u27s contributions to the study of human warfare

Review of Sanumá Memories: Yanomami Ethnography in a Time of Crisis. Alcida Rita Ramos. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995. xx, 346 pp. (paper).

As I have done considerable research among the Yanomamö,1 it was with anticipation that I received notice of Alcida Ramos\u27 publication of Sanumá Memories. This work is a useful contribution to the large and still expanding research on the Yanomamö, an Amazonian people who have become a classic case study for anthropology and the social sciences. They are probably the most widely read about tribal people in the world, largely a consequence of Napoleon Chagnon\u27s immensely popular ethnography Yanomamö: The Fierce People (first published in 1968 and the most recent edition in 1992). The Yanomamö have become a focal point for theoretical debates concerning the causes of warfare among tribal people, the promise of evolutionary biological theory in the behavioral sciences, and most recently, and lamentably, they are internationally known as victims of grave human rights violations. Ramos\u27 Sanumá Memories was first published in Portuguese in 1990 as an update of her 1972 doctoral dissertation (The Social System of the Sanumá of Northern Brazil, University of Wisconsin) supplemented by several return visits to the Sanumá (as recently as 1992) yielding additional chapters. A number of the chapters have been published as journal articles in both Portuguese and English. Based on the work of Ernesto Migliazza, the Yanomamö are divided into four ethnolinguistic groups: the Sanumá or Sanema with 3,200 speakers in about 100 villages, threequarters of which are in Venezuela; the Yanomamö with 11,700 speakers in 171 villages, with about 80 percent in Venezuela; Yanomam with 5,300 speakers in 64 villages, nearly all of which are in Brazil; and the Ninam (or Yanam), with perhaps as many as 850 speakers equally divided in Brazil and Venezuela. The work under review here is the most systematic account of we have on Sanumá social organization. Other major works on the Sanumá by Kent Taylor and Marcus Colchester focus on ethnobiology, ecology, and economics

Biographical Memoirs: Napoleon A. Chagnon

Napoleon A. Chagnon (August 27, 1938–September 21, 2019), elected to the National Academy of Science in 2012. A Biographical Memoir by Raymond B. Hames, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Chagnon was a Renaissance anthropologist who made numerous fundamental contributions to anthropology. His films and ethnography have been viewed by millions around the world. He combined a humanistic eye in research with an unwavering scientific approach to human culture and behavior. He set multiple standards for long-term field research in terms of methodological rigor and refinement. He made some of the first tests of inclusive fitness theory in human behavior. And he was a major force in the institutional establishment of evolutionary approaches in anthropology as well as the rest of the social sciences

Is Male Androphilia a Context-Dependent Cross-Cultural Universal?

The cross-cultural ethnographic literature has traditionally used the label male “homosexuality” to describe sexual relationships between biological males without considering whether or not the concept encompasses primary sexual attraction to adult males. Although male androphilia seems to be found in all national populations, its universal existence in tribal populations has been questioned. Our goal is to review previous cross-cultural classifications and surveys of male same sex behavior to present a system that does justice to its varied expressions, especially as it is informed by contemporary sexuality research. Previous comparative research does not effectively distinguish male same sex behavior from male androphilia. Using the standard cross-cultural sample (SCCS) as a sampling frame and the ethnographic sources in the human relations area files and elsewhere, we present distributional data on various forms of male same sex behavior. The SCCS is useful because it is designed to be representative of all historically known social formations and the sample is designed to reduce similarities as a consequence of common descent or historical origin as well as reduce the probability of diffusion of sociocultural practices from one culture to another. Our results show that male same sex behavior as well as male androphilia is much more common than previously estimated in the SCCS. With our findings, we make an argument that male androphilia is a context-dependent cross-cultural universal

Inheritance of quantitative expression of erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in the Negro—a twin study

Studies have been conducted on eight sets of monozygous and nine sets of dizygous female Negro twins, both members of whom were heterozygous for G-6-PD deficiency. Twins were studied both by assay of erythrocytic G-6-PD activity and by the methemoglobin elution test (MET). The MET is a procedure which identifies histochemically cells with appreciable G-6-PD activity and permits accurate determination of the percentage of such cells in heterozygotes. Monozygous twins showed significantly less “within-pair” variation than dizygous twins with both the MET and G-6-PD assay.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44115/1/10528_2004_Article_BF00487735.pd