Unokais

The Yanomamo believe that it is acceptable to murder another person out of revenge, if you have lost something and in killing another you will gain something. Much like an eye for an eye. In the Western culture the only reasons permitted to kill another is by self defense. The only accepted revenge killings in the Western culture, which is only accepted in some parts, is the death penalty.

If a member of your kin or village is murdered that person's body is burned and the ashes are consumed by the women. They do this to pump up the men to get them ready to avenge the death. However, sometimes the men of the village are so stricken by the death that they become cowards seeking refuge in neighboring villages where they take them in to take advantage of their women. If they do go on these revenge killings there is a small group of men that go, maybe 10 to 20. But they dwindle down as the men start to get nervous as they get closer to where they believe the target of their revenge killing is. They will travel a good 4 day walk to find their enemy, and once there they might not even kill the person they are looking for but the first man they see. They will only return home once the revenge killing is complete or if the enemy was not where they believed them to be.

There are benefits to becoming an unokais even though the risk of death is high. As an unokais you are more likely to have more women marry them and have more children than non-unokais. With this can develop a large kin making the villege grow. With survival of the fittest and the unokais reproducing more offspring to their likeness, that village should have more unokais. The village could grow and gain a substantial amount of power having numbers and fighters taking the control of the Yanomamo people. The revenge killings start with a death of a kin member, with such love and pride of their kin the unokais can protect their loved ones. being the strongest, largest village could prevent future revenge killings to be inflected on them. For the non-unokias they are less likely to see violence, however there is also a high amount of non-unokias that are murdered by violence. They have a less likely chance to find a mate because they do not go out on revenge killings and can't force or show off for the opposite sex. The benefits for the unokais greatly out weigh the non-unokais for this culture. Unokais are strong, brave, aggressive worriers that are idolized in their culture where the non-unokais would be equivalent to the skinny, nerdy guy living in his parents basement that never leaves due to agoraphobia.

The Yanomamo do not have a political structure like the Western culture, they are primitive without a written language. They do not have laws, or people to enforce these laws. They do have a structure which is basic, but necessary for people especially with numbers like theirs. They have 15,000 individuals living within 200 politically independent communities. The person in charge is called the "big one" they are the head of the largest descent group within the village. If there is another descent group the same size both heads will be cross married and be the leader. Most of the leaders are polygamist, but other members of the village can be polygamists. This insures many offspring and the continuation of the Yamomamo.

After reading about they glory given to the the unokais I can see how murder is outlawed. This revenge killing is such a horrible, perpetual cycle that never ends. But with all the murder and hate comes fame and glory to those that have the courage to go out and avenge the death. They get the women and opportunity to reproduce. Though people may by distinct nature not want to kill there are outside influences that change a person's mind, like a murder of a loved one and a culture that deems is acceptable to take revenge on that person.