Politics & Violence

Yanomamo Revenge Killing 

The Yanomamo do not have a formal written language, number system or laws unlike many western cultures. In western society's we depend on the law and judicial system to bring justice to criminals. The Yanaomamo only have general rules and customs that are violated regularly.

Revenge killings in Yanomamo populations is usually blamed on "woman" meaning they are the original cause for animosity, be it through infidelity, failure to give a promised girl and in some cases rape. In the event that a brawl gets out of hand the family of the deceased may seek revenge on the kin of the victor. The resulting fights and warfare often result in many lost lives on both sides.

In the Yanomamo population the unokais are men who have killed another person and have gone through the unokaimou ceremony. There are a few benefits to becoming a unokai. Only the unokais can become patas (headman or leaders) of their village. The unokais are only more desirable as mates and often have more children because of this. A non-unokais is a man who has not shed any blood, however to the Yamomamo this is often seen as weak and they are ridiculed because of it. Being a unokai is a sign of power and strength in their community, any man seeking power or leadership would need to have gone through this ceremony.

Without warfare there would be no use for political structure, someone to decide when and who the next raid with affect. Leadership is often determined by kinship and unokais status. As I mentioned a pata can often have as many a dozen wives resulting in a great deal of offspring and a larger descent line.

If a raid occurs and is successful a tribe is expected to seek revenge on them, if they do not their status in other villages will be seen as week and cowardly. All of the headsman are unokai, the revenge killings will place these, men in higher social positions. 

Often revenge killings are determined by the deceased kin. Any given tribe can have multiple patas (headman or leaders) whom can have many as many as a dozen wives. In turn the chances of any revenge victim have many kin is quite high. The family or kin of the deceased will feel the need for revenge killings.

Men that participate in revenge killings are likely to be more attractive to the women in the village as well. The article shows that the unokais have a much higher reproduction rate compared to non-unokais. Wives are often obtained by force or arranged marriages, yet the woman in the village are more attracted to the unokais.

As shown by the Yamomamo revenge is very powerful and a person can become consumed by it, even if they "know" right from wrong. We often see in western trials and portrayed on popular television shows the motives behind killings; jealousy, infidelity, self-defense, power or even money. Often times an accused murderer is not a serial killer, it is a person who reacted in a violent manner during the heat of the moment. We fell the need for punishment and redemption against murder and in order to do that we have laws, courts, fair trial and prison for consequences. 

By Andrea Garrison