looking for books on south american tribal life

Anyone know of any good book on the life of South American tribes? Something to do with all facets - arts, culture, religion, politics, ecology, economics, etc. Something general.

 

There are several books on the Yanamamo Tribe in Brazil. Go to something like Amazon .com or Half.com and type in Yanamamo. There is a book called Yanamamo, The Fierce People by Napoleon A Chagnon that gives a lot of info on the tribe. If you're still working on a paper you might want to use just a single aspect of the tribes life...like how are boys initiated into manhood or how do marriages happen. Pick one small aspect of the tribes life.

 

Just thought of another great tribe, the Jivaro, who live in Peru and Ecuador. These guys are regarded as the best head shrinkers in the world...and I don't mean Psychiatrist head shrinkers either. You can probably find a fair amount of info on the Jivaro by looking on the net, then finding the books about these folks. They go by a few other names too, Shuwar, maybe. These are some great folks, folk artists sort of. I spent some time in their villages and they told me they quit the head shrinking business because the government got pissed when the tribe scared off the tourists who wanted to visit. The old Shaman had a few heads but wouldn't let people see them because they are considered scared.

 

Thanks yarapario

 

good luck and have fun

 

This isn't about tribal life in particular, but if you want to know more about that region in general try reading Along the Inca Road, by Karin Muller. It's a travelogue about a solo woman traveler who definitely has the right attitude about how to go about traveling. It's an adventurous, educational read.