This series comprises works from a collaborative project undertaken by filmmaker Timothy Asch and anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon between 1968 and 1971 to film the Yanomamö Indians of southern Venezuela and northern Brazil. Their first collaboration, in 1968, resulted in two films: The Feast and Yanomamö: A Multidisciplinary Study. Chagnon then returned to the field annually, filming alone until 1971, when he was joined by Asch and Craig Johnson, who recorded synchronous sound.
In all, Asch and Chagnon shot approximately 110,000 feet (50 hours) of film on the Yanomamö, much of it in Mishimishimabowei-teri. Twenty one films, as well as a series of unfinished “slopticals’ were produced, including some of the most celebrated ethnographic films of the period: The Feast (1970), The Ax Fight (1975), and A Man Called “Bee” (1974). But this work was not without controversy as Chagnon’s mis-characterizations of the Yanomami as the “Fierce People” has had ongoing impacts on communities, and scholars have called into question his ethics. Despite these controversies (see Secrets of the Tribe), the film project remains an important chapter in the history and development of anthropological filmmaking.
In addition to the films produced by Asch and Chagnon, the series includes Yanomamö of the Orinoco (1987, 29 min), which was compiled from Asch and Chagnon’s footage and edited for use in seventh grade classrooms.
The original film materials, camera and sound logs, correspondence, production notes, sound recordings, and related publications were gifted to the Human Studies Film Archive at the Smithsonian Institution in 1984 as part of the Archive’s founding collection. DER, in collaboration with partners at the Smithsonian’s Human Studies Film Archive and with funding from the National Film Preservation Foundation, has completed preservation and remastering work on a number of these titles.
FILMS IN THE SERIES
Event Films
The Ax Fight (1975, 30 min) †
The Feast (1970, 20 min)
Magical Death (1973, 29 min) †
Documentary and Compilation
A Man Called Bee: Studying the Yanomamö (1974, 40 min) †
New Tribes Mission (1975, 12 min)
Ocamo is My Town (1974, 23 min)
Yanomamö: A Multidisciplinary Study (1968, 45 min)
Yanomamö of the Orinoco (1987, 29 min)
Sequence Films
Arrow Game (1974, 10 min)
Bride Service (1975, 10 min)
Children's Magical Death (1974, 7 min) *†
Climbing the Peach Palm (1974, 9 min) *†
A Father Washes His Children (1974, 15 min) *†
Firewood (1974, 10 min) *
A Man and His Wife Make a Hammock (1975, 12min) *†
Tapir Distribution (1975, 15 min) *
Tug-of-War, Yanomamö (1975, 9 min) *
Weeding the Garden (1974, 14 min) *†
Myths
Jaguar, a Yanomamö Twin Cycle Myth (1976, 22 min)
Moonblood: A Yanomamö Creation Myth (1976, 14 min) †
Myth of Naro, as told by Dedeheiwä (1975, 22 min)
Myth of Naro, as told by Kaobawä (1975, 22 min)
Slopticals*
Dedeheiwä Rests in His Garden (6 min)
Children Roasting Meat (5 min)
A Woman Spins (8 min)
Children Make a Toy Hammock (7 min)
Sand Play (19 min)
Playing in the Rain (8 min)
Mouth Wrestling (5 min)
Young Shaman (10 min)
* included on the Yanomamö Shorts compilation
† Remastered in 2018
