Zinzcantecos And Yanomamos

The Yanomamos bulk of food comes from the garden (manioc, maize, and bananas). As much time as is spent gardening is spent hunting and gathering wild foods to supplement their diet. Starting the gardens is the job of the husband. The slash-and-burn technique is also used. Gardens usually last about three years with additions made to them each year. They are planted, then they let them grow with little to no weeding or up-keep. The site of the garden is determined by the location of the village. When a tribe is on the move and without a garden they are able to sustain themselves on just what they can hunt and

Among the Zinacantecos, the men are encouraged to be married or engaged by the time they reach the ages of 16 or 17, and same for the women. The women must go with her husband and reside in his mother’s house, while he farms with his father and brothers in the lowlands. The wife must submit to her husbands’ mother. In some cases, wives have been known to run back to their own mothers because of mistreatment. Although, their husbands must then return to the wife’s family with a gift, usually liquor, to win back both his wife and her father’s favor.

The Yanomoamo have a completely self-sufficient culture. The only time they trade is with missionaries or for something that a “modern” person brought, such as an ax or machete. Some villages have a surplus of a specific fruit tree and so they trade this product to other villages. When a village or family unit does not have a garden they may beg for food in other villages, but they will be expected to pay back what they have taken when they get their own garden. Exchange only occurs between allied villages and may be a reason why villages are allied.

The Zinacantecos organization of production and exchange is based on a subsistence economy, which means they provide for their own needs. Some things they do trade or buy such as, rum, candles, salt and musical instruments. They sell flowers, surplus corn and beans. This interaction is done between Highland and Lowland villages, Indians and Latinos, or to the “public” in cities. The interaction takes place usually in markets or at “fiestas”, whose main objective is for trade. Wage work is very uncommon but is increasing.

gather in the forest. Some trading is done with food products between villages, but not much.

The Yanomamo live in only a ranked society, which is decidedly masculine because “men are more valuable than women”. A girl’s childhood ends sooner than boys do because little girls are obligated to tend to their little brothers and sisters at a very young age. By the time a girl is ten years old she has become an economic asset to her mother and spends a great deal of time working. She is expected to help her mother with cooking, h

Some topics in this essay:
Zinacantan Center, Indians Latinos, , Mayordomo Rey, Highland Lowland, organization yanomamo, plays role social, political organization, ranked society, legal organization, wild foods, organization zinacantecos, plays role, role social,