The Yanomami
Connectas Human Rights
https://www.conectas.org/en/noticias/iachr-says-the-yanomami-and-yekwana-people-are-in-a-grave-situation-in-brazil/
The Yanomami are the largest indigenous group in the Amazon rainforest, with a population of around 45,000 people and a territory covering 9.6 million hectares across Brazil and Venezuela (Survival International). Anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon famously wrote The Fierce People, in which he claimed the Yanomami were the most warlike people in the Amazon—despite the fact that other groups, like the Shuar, also live in the region and have a well-documented warrior culture. Chagnon based much of his research on a village located in the lowlands, where disease was rampant. The spread of illness had created paranoia and social tension, which in turn led to conflict. However, most Yanomami villages are in the highlands, where disease is far less common. Chagnon’s portrayal of this one village as typical, along with his exaggerations of violence, gave the entire Yanomami people an undeserved reputation (Tierney, 2001). The label of "fierce people" has caused long-term harm—it has been used to justify outside exploitation of Yanomami land and resources. Today, the Yanomami are actively working to protect their territory. In recent years, Yanomami youth have begun using drones to monitor for illegal logging and mining (Oliveira, 2025). This shows how traditional communities are blending ancestral knowledge with modern tools to defend their home.
References:
The Yanomami Survival International
https://survivalinternational.org/tribes/yanomami
Tierney, Patrick.(2001) Darkness in El Dorado How Scientists and Journalists Devasted The Amazon Norton
Oliveria, Elizabeth. (February 28, 2025) Yanomami youth turn to drones to watch their Amazon territory Mongabay