The shaman and the microscope
The Yanomami live in the northern Amazon rainforest, along the border between Brazil and Venezuela.
Despite the serious risk of extinction over the last twenty years, today are the largest indigenous people of America and still live in the traditional way and in relative isolation.
Thanks to international pressure carried by some NGOs, in 1992 the Brazilian government has recognized the rights of the Yanomami on their lands.
Nevertheless, the measure has not curbed violence linked to mining in their territories, also the epidemics of which this people was often the victim made it difficult to look to the future while maintaining its own identity.
Among the specific objectives that the Yanomami aim to achieve, we are to be able to cooperate with the health teams in the diagnosis of diseases imported into their territories, to manage equally agreements and trade or promote firsthand their traditional methods of sustainable management of resources.
They also wish to participate in international forums concerning them, making its contribution by taking part actively in the discussion on the crucial issues of human rights, dialogue between cultures or the preservation of ecosystems.
I took the photos in the Amazon, on the border with the state of Roraima, in the village of Mauxshuteri, during the filming of a documentary. The photos show the Yanomami in some moments of everyday life and show that health education, through which they are taught to diagnose certain diseases such as malaria, and the bilingual project, are becoming a reality that has as its goal the preservation of a people while respecting their traditions and culture.
Every woman avoid becoming pregnant until the previous child has not reached three years of age.
This guarantees in the first years of life proper weaning of the child.
the yano
The "yano", also known as "shabono", is a circularhut with a diameter of forty meters and
high twenty more. This is the place where the Yanomami live in the community. It is built in
a cleared area to make the soil more fertile.
return from the hunt
Hunting, along with fishing and farming the land, is a major source of livelihood of
theYanomami communities.
Hunting, along with fishing and farming the land, is a major source of livelihood of
theYanomami communities.
preparation of color make-up
A woman prepares the color to paint the body.
shaman ritual
A shaman caught and imprisoned in the hands the illness of a woman.
shaman ritual
A shaman get rid of the illness caught from a woman's body.
avatar
Young women Yanomami.
on the hammock
Inside theYano the families live together, distributed along the perimeter of the building.
group of Yanomami women
Women of theYanomami communities of Mauxhuteri seat beside the Catrimani mission.
the shaman and the microscope
The project in progress at the time of the realization of the reportage was to teach the Yanomami to recognize malaria in the blood and then to combine traditional methods with the diagnosis and medical treatment.
making off
from left: emilio navarino filmaker, davide sondelli camera operator, luigi migliaccio sound
These photos are part of a photographic and documentary project, realized between 1996 and 2001 in Brazil. The original project has been developed in two different moments that have resulted in the creation of four documentaries shoted in the states of Amazonas, Roraima, Bahia, Minas Gerais and Parana', in addition to a portfolio that represents the synthesis. The cultural stratification which over the centuries has affected the Brazilian continent is still being seen today with anthropological and social connotations. The aim of photographic project shown here, is to catch the signs in the culture and society of visited countries.
