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Questions and Answers for Timoteo Shoefoot
at UT Arlington, October 6, 1999
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Q: Has the "Great Spirit" displayed His power among your people? For
example--signs and wonders--miracle healings, etc.
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| A: There are many examples. One day as warriors were coming to Honey for a raid, Spear got up early in the morning in anticipation of the fight and saw beings in white robes surrounding the village. He presumed that these beings were there for the protection of the village. Through a variety of events, the raiders got "spooked" and turned back. Shoefoot once saw a canoe of three men in shimmering white robes rowing upstream in the middle of the river (to paddle upstream in the middle of the river where the current is the strongest would be as foolish as driving the wrong way on the expressway in rush hour). He stopped immediately to observe this mystery and saw the men pull into the shore. He followed them. When he got to shore, they were gone, canoe and all, and left no tracks. His village eventually moved to that spot where he anticipated finding better spirits. He did. |
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Q: What is the greatest outside threat to the indigenous tribes of that
region now? Is it drug trade?
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| A: There are a number of threats from the outside: Disease, miners, people who exploit. The greatest threat to the Yanomamo people is the mistaken notion that they are happy and should be left alone. This concept has prevented them from improving their lives, from having the freedom to chose to follow other spirits. It has locked them into their own culture which will most certainly destroy them according to any Yanomamo you speak with. |
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Q: What did we see on the video. What was happening?
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| A: You saw a shaman engaged in battles in the spirit world. He was attempting to draw the disease (in the spirit world) out of the woman (in the spirit world). If he could win the battle in the spirit world, the corresponding physical world would follow suit. |
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Q: What do the shamans say about Christians now?
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| A: They say now that the Christians really have the truth about the spirit world. They used to say that it is all a lie, but now they are saying that it is true. |
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Q: What parts of your culture do you still find valuable and keep?
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| A: We love our hunting and fishing skills. We love our family ties and the intricate family relationships that tie a village together. If you came to a Yanomamo village (if you were male), all the men of your age would call you brother-in-law because you have that potential relationship to them. If you realized that relationship, so much the better. |
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Q:How long have you been married?
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| A: 15 years |
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Q: Do you have any sons, and do they intend to be leaders of your tribe?
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| A: My oldest son is only seven years old. We haven't given that any thought. |
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Q: What is the meaning of your name? Why are you called that?
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| A: It is not proper to ask a Yanomamo his name. Most of the names are dirty and humiliating and use for the starting of fights. [Ed I can't even get the translator to pass this question on to Timoteo] cf. Spirit, p. 21 |
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Q: What effects has the gold miners had upon the Yanomamo?
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| A: In our area, none that we can tell. However, the water seems to be poisoned by mercury. We assume that this is coming from the illegal miners we hear about in Brazil. But we wonder why we should not be able to have legal mining operations that could employ our people? |
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Q: How many years has the Christian faith been preached in your village?
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| A: It came in 1960 and my father knew that it was true but rejected it (Spirit, p. 87-9). But later he accepted it and has taken our village in that direction ever since. |
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Q: What types of tribal piercings are prominent in the Yanomamo culture?
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| A: The men pierce their ears and the septum. The women pierce the same and the corners of the mouth, lower lip and cheeks from which protrude small sticks. They look very nice with the sticks and the earrings. |
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Q: What is the significance of these?
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| A: They are strictly for beauty. |
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Q: Shaman's use drugs and go without food and sleep in order to contact the
spirits. How can we know that they are not in truth merely
hallucinating?
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| A: What my father refers to as the "messing up of the mind" is always the way the spirits start in their training of a shaman. But no real shaman needs drugs to contact the spirits. It is on only in the initiating process that the mind might need to be altered with some hallucinating. |
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Q: Shaman's view of heaven and hell?
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| A: Shobali waca is the place of fire. All shamans know about it. You go there if you are stingy. Hedu hamo is the beautiful land where the enemy spirit lives. Most shamans have seen it from far off (cf. Spirit, p. 24-6) and can describe it. |
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Q: Granted, revenge killings and the like need to be stopped in order to
insure the survival of the people. Have these tribes been told of the
grave destruction that has always followed the introduction of
Christianity and "western culture" into a tribal society? (ex. the
crusades, American natives, Mexican natives)
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| A: We do not believe that Christianity has destroyed any culture because it has done so much good to ours. People who do those things don't follow the creator spirit no matter what they call themselves. We see bad people (miners and abusive tourists, cf. p. 133ff) come into our jungle all the time. But we don't call them "Christian." |
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Q: Why did you decide to come to the great spirit?
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| A: My father begged the greatest of all spirits to deliver him from the power of his own spirits who were making his life so miserable (Spirit, p. 215-6). When I saw how much better his life had become, I followed the same spirit. |
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Q: Have you met that anthropologist recently?
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| A: NO. But I've met other anthropologists and they have been very nice. Some are embarrassed at the treatment we have received from some who just study us. |
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Q: What does he think about your speaking tour?
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| A: I don't know. [ed. See Whitehead's review, p. 256ff] |
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Q: Have the Yanomamo in the Honey Village where the people are almost all
Christian continued to hold on to much of their culture?
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| A: Yes. He keep every part of our culture that is not destructive. |
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Q: What aspects of Yanomamo culture coexist well with a Christian world view?
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| A: We love the jungle. We enjoy the produce from our gardens. We love to have our families living with us and close, to keep close relationships with even our most distant relatives. We will never give these things up. We will always hunt and fish. We will always be Yanomamo. |
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Q: How many Yanomamo exist today?
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| A: [ed. The government has estimated 16,000. At the beginning of this century it was guessed to be 100,000. In the 1950 estimates ran at 60,000] |
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Q: Is Timoteo-Shoefoot's village growing?
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| A: My village is the only Yanomamo village that I know of that is growing. We now have about 350. |
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Q: Has forgiveness to each other within the tribe for killings, etc. been difficult?
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| A: Sometimes it is very costly. [Ed. See chapter 12 & 13] |
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Q: How long have these people been around?
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| A: Since the beginning of time when Holonamo was the first man. But now we fear that we may not alway be here. |