18.04.23 11:45 AM

The Ya̧� noma̧mö are a large population of native people in South America. They reside in the Amazon rainforest, among the hills that line the border between

Brazil and Venezuela. Due to the remoteness of their residence, they had remained largely uncontacted by the outside world until the beginning of the 20th century. This allowed them to retain several aspects of their culture that factors

such as population explosion and growth in material wealth have eradicated from the rest of the world. As a result, the Ya$ nomamö have come to be one of the

most widely studied groups by modern science.[citation needed]The word Ya$ nomamö means 'human being' in their language. The word is

supposed to be pronounced with thorough nasalisation. The phonetic sound 'ö' does not occur in English, and this has led to different accounts of how

Ya$ nomamö is spelled and pronounced. Some anthropologists had published the spelling Yanomamɨ, but because many presses and typesetters eliminate the diacritical marks, an incorrect pronunciation of 'Yanomamee' has emerged.

This article largely describes a Ya$ nomamö way of life that existed prior to the 1960s. Sustained contact with missionaries, government officials, miners,

journalists, tourists, anthropologists and others has led to significant changes to this way of life. It should also be noted that large variations might exist from

village to village. There are always individuals and communities who break the rules and hence deviations from what is presented below may be observed.