Changes in the Community

Historically, more than a third of the Yanomamo males, on average, died from warfare. In the mid-1970s, garimpeiros (small independent gold-diggers) started to enter the Yanomamo country. When garimpeiros settled, they killed members of the Yanomamö tribe in conflict over land. In addition, mining techniques by the garempeiros led to environmental degradation. In 1990, more than 40,000 garimpeiros had entered the Yanomamö land. In 1992, the president of Brazil, Collor de Mello accepted the opening of a Yanomamo Park founded by Brazilian anthropologists and Survival International, a project that started in the early 1970s. Non-Yanomamo people continue to enter the land. The Brazilian and Venezuelan governments do not have adequate enforcement programs to prevent the entry of outsiders into this land.

Haximu Massacre

The Haximu Massacre (or Yanomami Massacre) was an armed conflict in 1993, just outside Haximu, Brazil, close to the border with Venezuela. Approximately 16 Yanomamö were killed by the garimpeiros.

 Collor de Mello

Yanomamo Children