Suchergebnisse

Sixteen Decisions. 2000. 58 minutes, color. video by Gayle Ferraro. For more information, contact University of California Extension, Center for Media and Independent Learning, 2000 Center Street, Suite 400, Berkeley, CA 94704.

This paper examines the proposition that availability of animal protein limits the size, density, and permanence of settlements of the aboriginal societies of the Amazon Basin. Previous discussions have focused mainly on agricultural potential. Evidence is presented from ethnography and ecology suggesting that fish and game are scarce, particularly away from major rivers. Nine relatively unacculturated societies have relatively low but probably adequate per capita intake of animal protein. The effects which this limitation may have on Amazonian culture are discussed.

The American Anthropological Association's investigation of the charges in Darkness in El Dorado (Tierney 2000) found that the late James Neel and Napoleon Chagnon harmed the Yanomami in the course of their research in Venezuela and Brazil, and that Chagnon had violated the ethics code of the association. The association's inquiry contravened its own policy prohibiting ethics adjudications and was structured not by the standards of an objective investigation but by aspects of contemporary anthropology. Moralized approaches to information and postmodern rejection of objectivity mark the language and methods of the inquiry. The investigating task force did not observe reasonable standards of evidence, the targets of the investigation were not represented, and task force members were compromised by conflicts of interest. The investigation and its collateral activities reflect a culture of accusation and an anthropology uncertain of its ethical or scientific stature.

This study of the consequences of the introduction of sisal agriculture to Northeastern Brazil exemplifies a fruitful area of collaboration between nutritionists and anthropologists. The process by which sisal leaves are transformed into exportable fiber is analysed with emphasis on the human energy expenditure required. Two representative household energy budgets are examined in detail to determine the impact of sisal labor. Energy costs of sisal laborers are so great in relation to wages that systematic deprivation of adequate calories to the non‐productive dependents of sisal workers is necessary. The rapidly growing children are especially affected. This process is exhibited statistically in a sampled population by relative retardation in growth rate among children of sisal workers.