880 - The Yanomami at the intersection of socio-political engagement, scientific research, and public awareness

20.07.2012 | 08:00 - 13:30

Coordenator 1: Goodwin Gomez, Gale (Rhode Island College USA , Providence, RI, Ud States of Am / USA)
Coordenator 2: Herzog-Schröder, Gabriele (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Germany / Deutschland)

Over the past four decades, the Yanomami have been the subjects of innumerable research studies, publications, photojournalism, and films and the objects of international controversies and human rights campaigns. They are one of the most well-known of the Amazonian peoples. Nevertheless, the majority of their population (totalling over 30,000) still lives in remote communities and maintains traditional beliefs and practices. The public generally sees only the images that non-indigenous “outsiders” have constructed, but this situation is changing. The Yanomami are moving away from being the subjects and objects of outside scrutiny to become authors of their own stories and agents of their own future. Yanomami voices are demanding to be heard. Two publications, “Lengua y Cultura - Diccionario Yanomami - Español” by Marie-Claude Mattéi-Muller and Jacinto Serowë and “La Chute du Ciel” by Bruce Albert and Davi Kopenawa are examples of the new trend of empowering and self-empowering of the Yanomami. This symposium will bring together field researchers, supporters (like NGOs), and Yanomami voices to discuss indigenous self-representation within a scientific framework. Presenters will focus on projects in healthcare, education, and local administration, which are more and more in the hands of Yanomami communities in both Venezuela and Brazil. The aim of this symposium is to present up-to-date information on the perspectives, projects, and challenges that concern the Yanomami at the present time and to provide a forum for discussion that centers on the indigenous voice and emanates from it.

Palavras-chaves: Brazil, Venezuela, indigenous people, engaged anthropology, Yanomami