Yanomamo

However, "Yanomamo: The Fierce People" is taken as justification by politicians and businessmen, particularly gold miners, who come to exploit the land inhabited by the tribe. Therefore, perhaps, unconsciously Changon might have had a political effect on this tribe through publishing this book. .
             Why is this tribe so fierce? Are there any explanations to such violent behavior? "The Yanomamo themselves regard fights over women as the primary causes of their wars." Chagnon reported data that states that killers among the Yanomamo people reproduce more than non-killers. This means that Chagnon is a sociobiologist, or someone who believes that human behavior and culture are the result of natural selection. Many anthropologists consider this position wrong and racist. In some ways, I would have to agree with them. If the behavior of people in this tribe is caused by their genes, it means that even if we bring a newborn Yanomamo child into our society and raise it in our ways he (if it is a male) will have a tendency to murder. In my opinion, it is not true. But, in fact, Chagnon makes an attempt to give other reasons for the Yanomamo's chronic warfare such as lack of protein supply. However, when he suggested it to the men of the tribe, their response was: "Even though we like meat, we like women a whole lot more!" Nevertheless, I believe that there have to be other explanations for their culture and behavior other than their genes. And, perhaps, Chagnon should have worked more on figuring it out.
             On the other hand the author did not seem hateful or negative towards the tribe himself. Chagnon often described the friendships that he made with some of the Yanomamo people. In many controversial moments of the book he was on their side. For example, in the situation when they were practically harassed and threatened by a missionary named Pete who tried to convert them into Christianity by means of insulting and embarrassing them, he encouraged the Yanomamo to maintain their religious beliefs and not be intimidated by the missionary's threats.