Yanomamo The Fierce People Author:Napoleon A. Chagnon Based on the author's extensive fieldwork, this classic ethnography focuses on the Yanomamo. These truly remarkable South American people are one of the few primitive sovereign tribal societies left on earth. — From his less-than-ideal first encounter with a dozen warriors who greeted him with bows drawn, to a Jaguar's breath as a wake-up call at... more » 3:00 a.m. in the middle of a jungle, Chagnon takes his readers through one (mis)adventure after another. Still, Yanomamo is far more than an ethnographic thriller depicting a tribal people in southern Venezuela. Chagnon describes in detail the Yanomamos' seemingly exotic practices--the rule that a tribesman should marry his classificatory cross-cousin, or the abduction of women that invariably sparks a war, or a chest-pounding duel at any feast that might prevent an all-out battle from breaking out amid the festivities.« less