All cultures have different rules or laws regarding the killing of other people and the punishment they shall receive. In Western cultures, many of the laws are usually written and carried out so that we may be able to protect people from hurting other people. Obviously each law has a consequence if it is broken. Some are more greater in the degree of punishment than others. As opposed to the Yanomamo, who have no written language and therefore have no formal laws. They violate general rules in order to gain for themselves. Since there are no formal laws, many of these unwritten rules are broken on a regular daily basis. This is why much of the violence occurs.
The most common act of killing in the Yanomamo culture is for act of revenge on a previous killing. Women are the main reason for why they act on this revenge. Because of this, many of the people who are out for revenge have to also be very weary and cautious that others might get revenge on them. In this culture, the people in a village who act quickly on gaining revenge are less likely to get attacked, and therefore have less mortalities. Men also see gaining revenge as a form of social benefit. They believe that these men have better reproductive success and a higher marital status. These two reasons are why the Yanomamo take this so seriously.
Unokais, meaning those who have killed, must follow a ritual purification called Unokaimou. One purpose of this ritual is to avert any supernatural harm on oneself from the soul of the victim. The benefit of being an Unokais means you are fierce and respected as one who enacts revenge. Another advantage is that the Unokais have more reproductive success. The benefit of being a non-unokais would be the benefit of a less risky life of killing and revenge. They live a life with fewer mortal risks than the Unokais.
Revenge killing is an integral part of the Yanomamo culture. It has relationships with all aspects of life, including political structure, social status, kinship, and marriage and reproduction. Each village has certain descent groups that has one or more political leader. These leaders have a large amount of wives and many children. The political system is organized by kinship, so revenge killing is a big influence on social status. Those who participate are seen in a much higher perspective. A person is related to another if at least one genealogical connection between them exists. Most of the kin, however, are related in many different ways. For example, 80% of the members are related to more than 75% of the village. Killing among the Yanomamo culture is very important for the loss of individuals. Nearly 70% of all individuals (males and females) age 40 or older have lost at least one close genetic kin due to violence, and most (57%) have lost two or more. Revenge killing definitely has a large impact on the families and kin of the Yanomamo. The Unokais have greater success rate on marriage and reproduction because of their revenge killings.
I think we must have laws against “anti-social” behavior, like killing other people because even though most people do not want to perform such violent acts on others, a very few who do probably go with the notion that violence can be a very huge force and can be the driving force of human evolution. As people on Earth, we have been implanted with the traits to succeed in out survival and reproduction. People with anti-social behavior also can also not be aware of the crimes they are committing without realizing the importance of taking a human life. We must have laws in so people can be less likely to commit horrible crimes.
Hello Marlon, I love how you mentioned in your conclusion how you mentioned the power of violence, you are so right, and I do agree that laws help make people less likely to commit such horrid crimes. Amazing post, look forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteHello Marlon,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog and very informative. I also have to agree that the main reason for killing is women because of sexual jealousy or wife affairs. Revenge killing is also important to the Yanomami because the non-unokais are considered to be cowards if they back out or drop out of a raid, no matter what their excuse. This may result in their wives being taken and their group being compromised because they are not feared. They will not become headman or have any political power or confidence. Very interesting thoughts about the laws against anti-social behavior, we have over time implanted these certain behaviors and shown that killing is wrong but some cultures have the opposite belief. We only know our behavior to be right. Great blog!
Hello Marlon, I do agree with how we need to implement the laws regarding killing so that those who have more violent tendencies and a more survival based life, won't take it as a free for all. You gave a good description in the case of the Yanomamo people especially with how the unokais are praised in a sort of way next to the non-unokais who are cowards in comparison to those of the Yanomamo community. I wonder why killing is praised in their culture? I would assume it shows higher social status regarding strength meaning they could "provide" a better and safer environment for a woman and child making them more attractive to the women. Good observations Marlon,
ReplyDeleteChloe
" As opposed to the Yanomamo, who have no written language and therefore have no formal laws. "
ReplyDeleteThis has been a common sentiment in posts tonight and I'm puzzled by it. Do stories need to be written down to be stories? Do rules for a game need to be written down for the game to have rules? No. So why the assumption that laws must be written for them to exist?
"They violate general rules in order to gain for themselves. "
They violate OUR general rules of behavior... but are they violating theirs? From the outside, their practices may look chaotic and even akin to anarchy, but the Yanomamo are following rather strict rules of expected behavior, with known benefits for following those rules and known punishments as well. Take a step back when you view them. You have some ethnocentrism sneaking in here.
Good description of the practice of revenge killings. What happens after a revenge killing with the kin of the man killed? What is expected of him? Is there a cyclical nature to this practice? How is the cycle ended?
I tend to agree that non-unokais tend to live a less risky life, but it has been pointed out that they are more likely to have their wife stolen from them (if they are lucky enough to attract a wife, which is difficult) and they are more likely to be the focus of an attach by a young unokais... he poses very little threat of retaliation.
Excellent discussion on the impact of the system of revenge killings on the rest of the Yanomamo culture. You were especially thorough on this issue of kinship networks.
You make great points in the last section on why some people might engage in these behaviors that we supposedly shouldn't want to do. Yes, the represents a conflict between the biological and the cultural. Culturally, we understand that we can't just go around killing people, but that doesn't mean that there might not be a benefit to killing. Certainly those who kill in defense of property, family or themselves receive a benefit, but how about a thief or a murderer? Often the murder happens in the process of obtaining some type of resources. You also see gang related murders that follow a pattern similar to the unokais system, which assigns power and status benefits to those taking part, correct? So we have laws against these behaviors not because no one should want to do them, but because people can benefit from doing them, and we need to provide a cost (imprisonment) to balance the benefits to deter these behaviors.