48 Anthropology Newslcttcdhlay 1994

Commentary

The Yanomami: Truth and Consequences By Terence Turner (University of Chicago)

I was one of those who received the anonymously and pseudonymously mailed materials questioning Napoleon Chagnon’s account of the activities of the Salesian Mission a m o n g the Yanomami of Venezuela, against which Eric Wolf and Robin Fox protest in their letters (March 1994 A N , p 2). Like them. I hold no brief for the bizarre and devious way in which these documents were disseminated. The clandestine manner in which the materials were circulated, however, is not the only issue raised by their contents, nor by the s ta tements by Chagnon to which they respond. Above all, I am concerned that this ugly, public mud-slinging contest has had the effect of transforming the tragedy of the Yanomami massacre into a stage for the drama of Chagnon versus the Salesians. and the persecution of Chagnon’s sociobio- logical theories. Worse, i t threatens to have g rave pract ical consequences for the Yanomami themselves and those who are working to help them.

Behind the Verbal Battle Lines

Readers of Wolf’s and Fox’s letters might not realize that the anonymous mail- ings consist, not simply of unprovoked per- sonal a t tacks against Chagnon , but of attempts to respond to a series of assaults on the Salesians by Chagnon in the nation- al, international and scholarly press. I n these writings, Chagnon charges that the Sa le s i ans a re actual ly ki l l ing off the Yanomami they purport to assist. Publica- tion of these charges in the popular press was only made possible by linking them to the massacre of the Yanomami community of Haximu in August 1993, an event that attracted the attention of the news media. Chagnon claims that his investigation of the massacre was “dcraileti” b) the Salesians in an attempt to cover u p the Yanomarni mas- sacre i n order to “keep the plight of the Y an o in a m i h i dd e n ’’ ( iVe 13, Yo r k Tim ex, October 23, 1993). T h e Salesians thus

become accessories after the fact to the massacre itself.

These are extremely serious charges that are very damaging to the Salesians and their ability to sustain their work among the Yanomami, which depends on contributions from the British and American publics directly or indirectly reached by the papers in which Chagnon has publ ished his attacks. It behooves anthropologists to give critical consideration to both sides of the case, rather than to uncritically accept one side of the story.

There appear to be strong grounds for doubting Chagnon’s version of his attempt to investigate the Haximu massacre and its a l leged obstruct ion by the Salesians. Chagnon claims that he went to the site of Haximu as a member of an official “Presi- dential Commission” of investigation. head- ed by his close collaborator. Charles Brew- er-Carias. The President of Venezuela did i n fact appoint such a commission on September 9, but dissolved it only five days later after massive protests by indigenous organizations, anthropologists and other academics, politicians, and missionaries against the presence of Brewer-Carias and Chagnon on the commission. This was ten days before Chagnon and Brewer had them- selves flown in an Air Force plane to Hax- imu. representing themselves as members in good standing of the Presidential Eom- mission. Meanwhile, the President appoint- ed a new Commission, which proceeded to the site, arriving a day after Chagnon and Brewer-Carias. Its head-a judge, not a Salesian-told Chagnon and Brewer Carias that they had no right to be there and ordered them to leave. Chagnon was thus not forced to terminate his investigation by the Salesian Mission, nor was he carrying out any officially mandated investigation at Haximu.

Investigating the Massacre

I t is also untrue to claim-as Chagnon has-that his expulsion from the site of Haximu (nor itself the site of the massacre, as he has repeatedly asserted) was part of a “coverup” of the massacre. The Venezuelan investigating commission that expelled Chagnon and Brcwer-Carias proceeded to conduct its own investigation. By that time. however. (two months after the massacre) there was nothing left to cover up. and little left to investigate. The real investigation had already been done by the Brazilians. who identified the victims and 23 suspects and brought charges of genocide against

cal Association and the Society for Applied An beginning or mid-career scholar for a particular ax Wlm, monograph or service that interprets anthro

the 1995 Awar application must include (1 1 the nominee’s vita, (2) one or mofe letters of recom- mendation describing the accomplishment and documenting its impact on rele- vant publics and (3) other supporting material. Nominees are judged on this infomiation using the following cntena, in order of importance: (1) intellectual quality, (2) clarity or understandability, (3) the extent.or depth of impact (how great was the impact), (4) the breadth of impact (how many people and/or fields were affected).

Please send nominations and four copies of supporting material to 1995 Mar- garet Mead Award Chair. clo David Givens, AAA, Suite 640, 4350 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, V A 22203-1621. Supporting material will not be returned unless specifically requested The 1995 award will be given at the annual meet- ing of the AAA, to be held in Washington, DC, November 15-19. Deadline is Jan- uary I , 1995.

Turner talks with Kayapo leader Ropni at the rally of Brazilian indigenous nations in Brasilia, September 1993. Hundreds of indigenous peoples from all over Brazil came together to demonstrate for the demarcation of their lands and protest the massacre of the Yanomami of Haximu. Turner attended as a representative of the AAA Commission for Human Rights. (Photo by GeofJrey O’Connor)

them. The Brazilian team included several Yanomami who spoke the dialect of Hax- imu (which Chagnon does not) and interna- tionally respected anthropologist Bruce Albert. a member of the 1991 AAA Special Commission on the Brazilian Yanomami. The results of this investigation had been made available to Chagnon before he went to Haximu. In the light of this thorough Brazilian investigation, i t is unclear what purpose Chagnon felt would be served by further investigation of the killings. His claims to have discovered significant new data when he visited the site do not stand up when compared to Albert’s publ ished account of the Brazilian findings: with minor exceptions. everything he claims to have found out from his hurried interviews at thc airstrip is contained in the Brazilian report (at two points, Chagnon’s figures deviate by one from the Brazilians’. but this is more likely an error on Chagnon‘s part than theirs).

The intense and hroadly based opposition to the Chagnon-Rrcwer-Carias Commission in Venezuela, which led to its imnxdiate disbanding by the Prcsident. was not orga- nized by the Salesians (although they took part i n i t ) . nor was i t primarily directed against Chagnon’s nationality or sociobio- logical views. I t was directed much more to Brewer-Carias as head of the Commission. Much of the opposition to Chagnon derived from his association with Brewer-Carias. I t is therefore essential to understand why so many people were upset about Rrewer- Carias. Wolf describes Brewer-Carias as a Venezuelan naturalist. but he is also more relevantly a businessman of great wealth and political influence and an ex-Cabinet Minister with extensive interests i n gold mining. Many of his mining operations appear to be situated in indigenous areas. He has recently been the subject of an investigation by a Venezuelan Congression- al commission, which charged hiin with conducting clandcctinc ilkgal mining oper- :itions on public a n d indigenous lands. us ing Indian< a c !.ihorcr<. bloqt sipr:ificar:t- I) the Commission a l \ o charged Hrener- (’arias w i t h u i n g ”sc !t‘ nr i tic : i i I I v ! t I e \ ”

: \uch 3s his t r i p , to Yanomami co ; in t r ) uith Chagnon) a s a “veil” for his pursuit 01 ”private intercst5.” Tha: such a m a n was able to use his political influcnce to have himself. as well ;is Chagnon, appointed to investigate a massacre perpetrated by illegal gold miners was not surprisingly considered a scandal by much of the informed Venezuelan public.

Killed by Kindness?

By far the most important issue raised by Wolf and Fox is whether the Salesians and other nongovernmental organizations who purport to be helping the Yanomami are really doing so. or are rather “killing them by kindness.” i n Chagnon’s words. Wolf and Fox repeat Chagnon’s charges that the Salesians have increased the death rate among Yanomami by “bringing them in to concentrated settlements, thus intensifying the spread of infectious diseases, as well as sponsoring the distribution of guns among their converts” (Wolf). There are grounds for doubting their interpretation of the facts. The Salesians themselves freely concede that the death rate is higher in the contact settlements, but maintain that many of the Yxomami u ho come to these posts do so txcauw they arc sick and seeking the mcdi- cal aid that the Salesians provide. The posts ;ire thus in effect likc hospitals: they have higher death rates because many of the peo- ple who come to them are already seriously ill. The two explmations are not mutually inconsistent; both are probiibly true to some cxteiit. Hoth. hnwcwr. must be interpreted wi:hin the large; context of the massive health crisis that has overtaken the Yanonia- mi since 1957 as 3 result of the invasion of :heir territory by gold miners.

The miners and their placer operations, which create brcedir,g grounds for mosquitocs, have given rise to a virulent epidemic of malaria that has exponentially raised the Ynnomami death rate. The scale of the ep idemic has ove rwhe lmed the capacities of the few medical teams and clinics operating in Yanomami country. Vledical posts arc swamped with sick and

See Commentary on page 46

AN Cominentaries are designed to explore diverse \.iews of the disci- pline from an anthropological per- .specti\*c. C’ornnientclries reflect the \,icws of the wthors: their publica- tion docs i 1 o r sicgti(fL endorsement by the Antliropolo&y Newsletrer or the Aniericun Anthropological Associa- tion. Authors are expected to verih all fartual information included in the text. M~inuscripts should be less than 2000 wortk in length and must b~ submitted on both disk and in rlaubicJ-spaced hard copy.

46 Anthropology NewsletterMay 1994

Annual Meeting PR L o o k i n g a h e a d to t h i s y e a r ’ s

A n n u a l M e e t i n g in At lan ta , g ive some serious thought to sharing the results of your latest research project

Commentary Cont inued from page 48

I

d y i n g Y a n o m a n i i , a n d the w e a k e n e d patients na tu ra l ly become suscept ible to one another’s diseases. The desirable alter- native would be to deploy mobile medical teams that could make regular visits to the m a n y Yanomami villages and treat the sick in Siti4. t hus avoiding the concentration of patients at the stationary clinics. Unfortu- nately. none of the organizations involved (including the Salesians) have the resources such operations would require. This is the real context in which the high death rates al medical aid stations among both Brazilian and Venezuelan Yanomami must be under- s t o o d . Provid ing such statist ics for t h e death rates at Salesian medical posts for recent years, as Chagnon has done. is thus not tantamount to “telling the world the incontrovertible facts and figures of . . . crimes.” in Fox’s enthusiastic language.

Similar qualifications seem in order with respect to the charge that the Salesians gave guns to the Yanomami, who in t u r n used them in raids. This seems likely to be true. for the Salesians admit to providing s e v e n s h o t g u n s . w h i c h t h e Y a n o m a m i insisted they needed for hunt ing. The Sale- s ians have since discont inued f u r n i s h i n g ammunition and have refused requests for more g u n s . One m a y i n f e r tha t t h i s is becausc the Yanomami used the g u n s as Chagnon has charged. This may, then, have been a mistake on the Salesians’ part. but i t i s hardly on a scale to just i fy Chagnon’s charges of complicity in mass death.

Survival G r o u p s at Risk

C h a g n o n has not conf ined hiinself to attacking the Salesians. but has made gen- eral accusations against unnanied “survival organizations“ working in support of the Yanomami. Fox also charges thcse organi- /.ations with obstructing Chagnon’z invesii- gation because i t might discredit their “ver- sion of the situation” and thus threa ten “their gr ip on the religious. governmental o r charity worlds that have come to mean more to them than the survival of the I n d - Ans.” I f these horrendous claims are true.

then clearly support from private, religious and governmental sources for the Salesians and other NGOs currently involved in legal. medica l or pol i t ica l a d v o c a c y work on behal f of the Y a n o m a m i should cease. Given the gravity of the charges and the seriousness of their potential consequences for the Yanomami, one might have expect- ed Fox andor Chagnon to have named the “survival organizations” they had in mind or presented some evidence for their asser- tions. They d o not.

I am well acquainted with the work and personnel of the “ s u r v i v a l organizations’’ primarily or importantly engaged in work on behalf of the Yanomami. either intema- tionally or on the Brazilian side of the fron- tier. Most of the major groups involved e n t e r e d in one way o r another into the investigation of the situation of the Brazil- ian Yanoniami carried out in 1991 by the special AAA commission of which I served as h e a d . On the b a s i s of m y personal knowledge of these organizations. I have no hesitation in saying that Fox’s charges are groundless . They materially damage the Y a n o m a m i by u n j u s t l y de faming a n d undermining the only people who are doing something to help them.

[Note: As of this writ ing there IS still no solid evidence of the identity of ihose who assembled and circulated the documenta- tion questioning Chagnon’s account. Cir- cumstantial ebmidence suggests the mission- uries themselves: it was clearly some per- son or persons supporiive of rhe mission aguinst Chagnon’s denunciations. Whereas ihe mailings bvere sent under anonymous co \ *er . much of t h e i r con ten ts a r e no t unonymous: they contain press clippings. letters ideniified as written by Salesians- or i n one case an a n r h r o p o l o g i s r - a n d re la te 10 facrs of pub l i c record . I have attempted to check many of these through Venezuelan coniacis and sources and nus also able 10 debrief members of rhe Brazil- ian team that investigated ihe Haxirnu mas- tac re ( i nc lud ing rhe Yanomami leader, Du~zi Kopenaua and anrhropologisr Bruce Albert) on their arrival in Brasilia the day after they had compleied their investiga- !ion. Some of their findings bear on certain o f C h a ~ n o n ’ s claims. As a result. I have urrived at a rarher different assessment of [he issues raised by the aciions and w i r ings of those involved on both sides of this affair ihan Fox and Wolf.]

Meeting Calendar Cont inuet i . f roni page 47

ley. CA 94720: 510/642-2896. fax 510/643 557 1

1995

JM 4-5 SOCIETY FOR HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLQGYS ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON HISTORICAL AND UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLBGY. Washlngton. DC Deadllnc for abstracts: J u n e I , 1994. Contact Henry M Miller. Hlvtodc St Mary’s Clty. PO Box 39. St Mav’s City. MD 20686: 301/862-0974. f a 30 I /862-0968

~ C I E T Y FOR A N T H R ~ P ~ ~ ~ C P IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES. Annual Meet- Ing San Antonlo. TX Contact Steven Relf. KW gore C. 1100 Broadway. Kllgore. TX 75662:

JM 22-24 DIETARY ASSESSMENT METH- ODS, 2nd InternaUonal Conference. Boston. MA Deadllne for abstracts: July 15. 1994. Contact Conference on Dletav Assessment Methods. Harvard School of Publlc Health. 677 Huntlngton Ave. LL-23. Boston. MA

1969.

M U 2-4 SECOND INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE ON BELIZE. Jacksonville. FL.

903/984-853 1 . fax 903/983-8607.

02115-6023: 617/432-1171. f a ~ 6 1 7 / 4 3 2 -

DeadlLne for proposals October 13. 1994. Contact Tom Leonard. Dept of Hlstory. U h‘orth Florida. Jacksonvllle. FL 32224: 904/646-2886. fax 904/646-2563

LOGICAL SOCIETY. 72nd Annual MeeUng. Indlanapotls. I N . Contact Lany Breltborde. Dept of Anthropology. Belolt C. Belolt. WI

May 25-27 EUROPEAN COMMUMTY STUD- I E S ASSOCIATION. 4th Hlennlal InternaUonal Conference. Charleston. SC. Deadllne for abstracts: November 15. 1994. Contact Wllllam Burros. ECSA. 405 Bellefield Hall. U Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh. PA 15260: 4 12/648-

MU 9 - 1 2 CENTRAL STATES ANTHROPO-

535 1 1: 608/363-2500.

7635. fax 412/648-1168.

July 2-6 Vn INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF TOXICOIBGY. Seattle. WA. Theme: Hod- zons In Toldcology. Preparing for the 21st Cen- t u r y Deadllne for abstracts: Jan 1995. Con- tact. I f f VlI. Soclety ofToldcology. 1 1 0 1 14th St. N W . Sultr 1100. Washlngton. DC 20005-

Aug 30-Sept 8 INTERNATIONAL ROCK ART CONGRESS. Omclal MeeUng of the lnterna- tlonal Federatlon of Rock Art OrganbaUons. Pinerolo-Turin. ITALY. Theme. -Rock art stud- ies. new approaches.- Contact Robert C Bed- narik. AustralIan Rock Art Research Assocla- tlon. PO Hox 216. Caulfleld South. Vlc 3161. Australla: (031 523-0549.

CION DE IDENTIDADES Y DIFFERENCUS: CONFUCTOS Y TRANSFORMACIONES SOCIO-POUTICAS EN AMERICA LATINA. International Symposium Caracas. VENEZUELA. Deadllne for abstracts Septem- ber 15. 1994. Contact Daniel Mato. Apartado Postal 88551. Caracas- 1080. Venezuela: fax

5601: 202/371- 1393. 202/37i - 1090.

Oct 9-13 GLOBAUWCION Y CONSTRUC-

582/752-23 14.

Inaugural Issue for New AA Editors B y Barbara a n d Dennis Tedlock (AA Ed i to rs )

The September issue of the An ie r i - can Anthropo log is t . the first to appear under our editorship, will lead off with a new sect ion cal led “Forum.” Our intent is to provide a s p a c e w h e r e anthropologists can discuss and cr i - tique educational, multicultural, inter- national and public policy issues of impor tance to the d isc ip l ine as we approach the millennium. The initial contributions to this section include Anne Ferguson’s “Gendered Science: A Critique of Agricultural Develop- ment,” Linda ,Marie Fedigan’s “Science and the Successful Female: W h y There Are So Many Women Primatologists” and Renato Rosaldo’s recent address to the Modern Language Assoc ia t ion . ‘‘Whose Cultural Studies?”

Other contributors to our first issue include Gary Gossen. who traces the role of soul concepts in the formation of ethnic identity among Mayans, from the dawn of Mesoamerican civilization among the Olmecs to the emergence of Zapatistas in recent newspaper head- lines. The history of Celtic identity is the subject of an article by Michael Dietler, who explores its implications for archaeological research in the con- tradictory contexts of pan-European unity, nationalism and regional resis- tance. Paul Stoller questions the lan- guage-centeredness of anthropological perceptions, contributing an essay on the embodiment of colonial memories in W e s t Afr ican sp i r i t p o s s e s s i o n . Katherine Ewing writes of her encoun- ters with Pakistani sufis, raising ques- tions about what she calls “anthropo- logical atheism and the temptation to believe.” The process by which profes- sions shape vision to create objects of knowledge is subjected to scrutiny by Charles Goodwin. who uses tape tran- scripts and video frame grabs to t i ts- cuss the work of linguists and archaeol- ogists. as well as that of lawyers and expert witnesses at the Rodney King trial. Insights into the ethnographic gaze are offered by Frances Mascia- Lees and Patricia Sharpe, who combine text and image in an exposition of an “anthropological unconsc ious” that tu rns o u t t o be a n “opt ica l u n c o n - scious.’’

The film review section of the Amer- ican Anthropo log is t has been reconcep- tualized by our film review editor, Paul S t o l l e r , to i n c l u d e t h e o r e t i c a l l y engaged essays featur ing s t i l ls and video grabs taken from ethnographic and experimental films of importance to anthropologists. The book review section includes an increased number of contr ibut ions that cover mult iple books and also reflects our efforts to obtain books from publishers who have neglected to send copies for review. We are trying to keep pace with the rapid growth of publ icat ion in such a re as a s b i o c u 1 t u r a 1 a n t h ro p o I o g y , material culture, ancient trade and agri- culture, writing systems, body as text, performing and visual arts, ethnic iden- tity. gender, lesbian and gay studies. racism, diasporas and historical and scientific paradigms.

We would like to thank our authors and the readers of their manuscripts for

their patience and responsiveness. Our efforts to open up the peer review pro- cess have met with some success. So f a r , a l l a u t h o r s but o n e h a v e opted against anonymity. while slightly more than half of all readers have done so. We are also happy to report that most a n t h r o p o l o g i s t s , in t h e i r roles as authors, r e a d e r s , reviewers and corre- spondents, seem to comport themselves not as combatants but as members of a civil society.

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