Band Societies, Present and Past

Wilson- Chapter 5Indigenous South Americans of the

Past and Present

The Paleoindian Period• ~13,000- 10,000 B.P. • Climate and Vegetation– Hunters and gatherers

(Andes)– Climatic changes in the

northeastern lowlands tropical rain forests

• Flora and Fauna– Figure 5.13: camelid,

paleolama, hippidium, megatherium (giant sloth), arctotherium (bear).

– Butchering marks evidence (hearths, dwellings).

The Paleoindian Period• Key Paleoindian Sites: (see figure 5.1)– Fell’s Cave– Monte Verde Site– Pikimachay Cave– Tibitó Site– Taima-Taima Site– Caverna Da Pedra

Pintada– Pedra Furada Rock

Shelter

Band-level Marginality

• The Ona and Yahgan– Physical Environment

– North- P’amica– South Hamska– South eastern- Aush

– Mode of Production– Meat- guanaco, and cururos (summer) and marine mammals

– Settlement Pattern– Low population– Huts made with skin over poles & moss

– Mode of Reproduction– .10-.11 per square mile– High infant mortality– Tallest (males 173 meters, women 160 mts.)

The Ona – Domestic Economy

– Clothing and body paint– Guanaco fat mixed with red soil– Body paint: red, black and white

– Symbolic meaning?

– Social Organization– Monogamous, exogamous – Patrilocal & levirate– Klóketen (boys’ initiation)

– Political Economy– Headman, 38 territories– Dead whales– warfare

– Ritual and Leadership– Shamans (Xon )and the darts– Klóketen

– Ideology – Mythological heroes: Sun & Moon

Band-level Marginality• Yahgan-Yamána– Physical Environment

– South archipelago– Temperatures range 2˚-8˚C– Fauna

– Mode of Production– Hunters and Gatherers-sea mammals– Canoes– Food sources

– Settlement Pattern– Two types: East & West, mobility

– Mode of Reproduction– Methods for birth control– Shortest indigenous people (men 160

& women 145 centimeters)

The Yagan-Yamána– Domestic Economy

– Fire– Clothing & fish oil , body paint

– Social Organization– Nuclear, monogamy, sororate, bride

wealth and gender equality

– Political Economy– 5 dialect groups, separatists, high sense

of honor, low warfare

– Ritual and Leadership– Puberty rite – themes

– Ideology – Watauineiwa

Band-level Marginality

• The Nukak– Physical Environment– 10,000 square miles– Rainforest climate

– Mode of Production– Fauna– Flora- horticulturalists

– Settlement Pattern– High mobility- factors?

– Mode of Reproduction– Tribe size, family size

The Nukak– Domestic Economy– Depilation of body & face paint– Facial expressions

– Social Organization– Small kin groups–Monogamous,& exogamous

– Political Economy– Extended affiliations, endogamous

and territorial

– Ritual and Leadership– Ideology – Taboos & three levels to the world

Conclusion

• Effects of colonization on band-level groups• Effects of climate and resources• Contemporary band societies– Similarities?– Differences?– Continuity?