Sickness is caused when the noreshi soul leaves the body. Most internal illnesses are believed to have been caused by the intrusion of hekira or by foreign objects injected by this spirit. Shamanism is well developed. The shaman establishes contact with spirits through the use of hallucinogenic drugs. Curing is the chief function of the shaman, but sorcery against enemies is also practiced.
Small children are the particular targets of the magical projectiles of an enemy sorcerer.
Any man can become a shaman if he wishes, with only some simple but formal training under the tutelage of an older shaman, but only a few men in each village actually choose this occupation. At death, the body is burned and the remaining bones crushed into a powder, which is consumed in a beverage at a later date by the mourners in memory of the dead. This practice is common to all Yanoama groups. From 1954 on, the Yanoama have been the subject of a large number of field investigations. Also, dozens of excellent ethnographic films were produced by Napoleon Chagnon and Timothy Asch during the 1960s and 1970s.