Sunday, March 18, 2012

Napoleon and Ken

I think what Chagnon did wasn't as severe as what Ken Good did. Napoleon Chagnon distributed trade goods among the Yanomami and they proceeded to battle each other for said items. It is uncertain to us exactly what these goods were, so we can't immediately say they were weapons or warlike items for Chagnon to film. However, that's what he did: when they did battle, he was filming. It makes sense because this is their standard lifestyle but he only portrayed them fighting, leading to the conclusion that they were violent people. Ken Good, on the other hand, accepted a betrothed Yanomami woman. Betrothing girls is standard and therefore, he was simply supporting the culture and their ways. As for not returning the children, I believe it was more a conflict of cultures (American and Yanomami) than a conflict of morals because we don't typically give our children up for marriage at an early age while the Yanomami do.

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