57 pages • 1 hour read
Napoleon ChagnonYanomamo: The Fierce People
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1968A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Before You Read
Super Short Summary
Yanomamö: The Fierce People by Napoleon Chagnon documents his fieldwork among the Indigenous Yanomami people of the Amazon, exploring their social practices, kinship systems, and daily life, and emphasizing their involvement in inter-village and intra-village conflicts. Descriptions of graphic violence, sexual assault, and violence against women appear in this book.
Reviews & Readership
Review Roundup
Yanomamo: The Fierce People by Napoleon Chagnon garners praise for its detailed ethnographic portrayal of the Yanomamo tribe, offering invaluable anthropological insights and sparking debates on human nature and aggression. However, it faces criticism for ethical concerns and potential biases in representation. Despite controversies, it remains a seminal yet polarizing work in anthropology.
Who Should Read Yanomamo: The Fierce People?
Readers with a keen interest in anthropology and indigenous cultures would enjoy Yanomamo: The Fierce People by Napoleon Chagnon. Similar to those captivated by Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel or Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa, this book offers an in-depth, ethnographic study of the Yanomami tribe in the Amazon rainforest.