Yanomamo: The Fierce People

Chagnon further discusses the alliances between Yanomami villages and the intricate dynamics that govern these relationships. These alliances are crucial for a village’s survival due to the threat of warfare and the risk of being displaced by a more powerful enemy. Chagnon breaks down the process of alliance formation into trading, feasting, and exchanging women. He notes that those who only trade and hold feasts are weaker than those who also exchange women. However, “the Yanomamö […] avoid attacking those villages with which they trade and feast” (98). While giving women to other villages is necessary for creating the strongest alliances, the villages that reach this stage are often reluctant to proceed due to wariness over whether their partners will reciprocate, especially if pressured by a more powerful ally. Chagnon notes that the exchange of women is the end goal to fully cement the alliance and create a strong bond, but it is another model of how the situation should ideally play out. Many partnerships between Yanomami villages never come close to reaching that stage; instead, they collapse due to fighting over resources or women. He also notes that Yanomami politics generally do not favor the creation of friendly alliances because villages often use military victories and “fierceness” to establish their authority.