Sunday, March 18, 2012

Napoleon and Ken

While both Ken Good and Napoleon Chagnon each did a part in damaging the culture of the Yanomamo, I believe what Napoleon did was worse. He influenced the culture of the Yanomamo and introduced them to weapons they never had. He basically handed them machetes and video taped them hurting each other. He gave the world a distorted view of their culture. While what Ken Good did was terrible, he did not forever change the way in which the Yanomamos lived. Napoleon forced change on a society that was doing just fine before he arrived.

1 comment:

Janelle Schneider said...

I agree. Napoleon influenced the Yanomamo in a negative way but also our society by portraying them as something they are not. Napoleon hurt more than one person in his wrongdoings, whereas Ken only hurt Yarima.