page_title: Yanomami women
section_title: Domestic life
hierarchical_section_title: Yanomami women / Domestic life
caption_attribution_description: English: Yanomami woman weaves a basket at the maloca de Eduardo in Brazil.
context_page_description: The Yanomami people are an indigenous group who live in the Amazon Rainforest along the borders of Venezuela and Brazil. There are estimated to be only approximately 35,000 indigenous people remaining. They are interfluvial Indians who live in small villages along the Mavaca and Orinoco Rivers, with each village consisting of a single shabono, or communal dwelling. Largely uncontacted by the outside world, the Yanomami have been affected by illnesses introduced by gold miners since the 1980s. Anthropological studies have emphasized that the Yanomami are a violent people, and although this can be true, the women of the Yanomami culture generally abstain from violence and warfare. Although males dominate the Yanomami culture, Yanomami women play an important role in sustaining their lifestyle.
context_section_description: The women in the Yanomami tribe are responsible for domestic duties and chores, excluding hunting and killing large game. Although the women do not hunt, they do work in gardens and gather fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants, fish, small animals, honey and insects for food. The garden plots are sectioned off by family. Bananas, sugarcane, mangoes, sweet potatoes, papaya, manioc, and other crops are grown. About 60 different crops are grown in these gardens which account for about 80% of their food. The women also collect nuts, shellfish and insect larvae. Wild honey is highly prized and the Yanomami harvest 15 different kinds. The Yanomami women cultivate these gardens until they are no longer fertile, and then move their plots. As Amazonian soil is not very fertile, a new garden is cleared every two or three years.
  
  Women are expected to carry 70 to 80 pound loads of crops on their backs during harvest season, using bark straps and woven baskets. Plantains and grubs are common sources of food, and are staples in the Yanomami diet.
  While the men hunt, the women and young children go off in search of termite nests and other grubs, which will later be roasted around family hearths. Each family has its own hearth where food is prepared and cooked during the day. At night, hammocks are slung near the fire which is stoked all night to keep people warm. Although hunting accounts for only 10% of Yanomami food, among men it is considered the most reputable of skills and meat is greatly valued by everyone. No hunter ever eats the meat that he has killed. Instead he shares it out among friends and family. In return, he will be given meat by another hunter.
  Sometimes, the women also pursue frogs, land crabs, or caterpillars, or even look for vines that can be woven into baskets. While some women gather these small sources of food, other women go off and fish for several hours during the day. The women also commonly use plants such as manioc to turn into flat cakes, which they cook over a small pile of coals.
  Yanomami women are expected to bear and raise many children, who are expected to help their mothers with domestic chores from a very young age, and mothers rely very much on help from their daughters.
  Using small strings of bark and roots, Yanomami women weave and decorate baskets. They use these baskets to carry plants, crops, and food to bring back to the shabono. They use a red berry known as onoto to dye the baskets, as well as to paint their bodies and dye their loin cloths. After the baskets are painted, they are further decorated with masticated charcoal pigment.
caption: Yanomami woman weaves a basket at the maloca do Eduardo in Brazil, June 1999.
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