The Yanomami

The Yanomami are an indigenous people of Brazil and Venezuela, who live in the northwest Amazon Rainforest. They have lived in this area for thousands of years, in villages formed by a circular house called shabono or yano. Their way of life is completely based on the forest; cultivation, banana growing, fishing, fruit gathering and animal hunting, always treating the forest with respect and moving to avoid the overuse of an area. The social organization has no ranks, they don't have leaders and believe in sharing and equality. Back in 1950, the Yanomami population suffered a great devastation for the Europeans, and in the 1970's more than half of the total population perished due to diseases brought by the white men.