1. The Yanomamo people have no rules against killing people. There is an implication of what proper conduct is and if someone misbehaves, they must fend for themselves and their kin. No laws or rules are formally official with the Yanomamo people, but the Western Culture has plenty of possible consequences for killing people; the government, not the victim's kin, makes sure to punish murderers.
2. In Yanomamo populations, revenge killing is a process that takes place most commonly because of women and is one of the main causes of warfare. When a village member kills a person from another village, the latter village goes after the former. When a person from a village kills another person within the same village, the village splits into two groups and go after one another. Swift retaliation can enhance fear of the village who retaliated swiftly.
3. The benefits of obtaining the status of unokai is that people will fear you and hesitation for killing you or your kin will greatly increase. Unokai also are more reproductive and have an easier chance to find wives, giving them a desirable social status. Non-unokais barely have a benefit at all, they are perceived as cowards, usually ridiculed or made any easy target. Men would probably prefer to be a unokai in order to have a better social status.
4.
a) Political structure is influenced by revenge killing because the Yanomamo people are basically governed by killing. The "patas", or leaders of the kins, are the only political figures. The killing of men is what causes warfare between villages.
b) Social status and organization is influenced by revenge killing because men are much more feared, respected, and desirable as a mate if they have killed a person, especially through hasty retaliation.
c) Kinship is influenced by revenge killing because it is usually one's kin who assists an individual in revenge killing. Kinship loyalty is measured through the help one receives from their kind when taking revenge.
d) Marriage and Reproduction is influenced by revenge killing because men who have killed a person due to revenge are more desirable as a husband and father. Women prefer men who have killed because they are perceived as strong and courageous, qualities women look for in a provider.
5. We need laws against something that no one should want to do because people still want to regardless if they know they should not. Killing people is a sign of hostility and violence, two things that usually result in chaos and no resolution; regulations need to be made for the people that there is nothing wrong with killing people.
Jenifer, I believe that the Yanomamo do have rules against killing people - it is just that they are not formalized in the manner that we see in Western culture. "There is an implication of what proper conduct is" ... Even though these laws might not be written in stone, there is a general understanding among the culture regarding killing.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Margaret Park. It seemed that the Yanomamo in having acceptable uses for killings also had non formalized rules against it. Maybe not in the way the Western culture's rules on it but, still, if they have a list of acceptable killings then they must have them for non acceptable ones.
ReplyDeleteDo you really think that the Yanomamo have "no rules" regarding killing? Can they kill anyone they want, whenever they want, for whatever reason they might feel justifies the behavior? Just because their rules are different from ours doesn't mean they don't exist.
ReplyDeleteI can think of one benefit to being a non-unokai... it's a much less dangerous choice to make and likely leads to a longer life span. So why not choose to live a longer life? Why is status and offspring so much more important than living longer?
The rest of the post is quite good, but again I differ with you on the final section. Is the assumption that killing is something no one should want to do a safe assumption? Are there any biological/social reasons why people may feel like they might benefit from killing another person? The point of the section is to get you to ask yourself if perhaps we actually have laws that do prevent people from doing things that would benefit themselves to the detriment of others.