Darkness in El Dorado
by Patrick Tierney · first published 2000
2mentions
0recommended by
2HN commenters
2018–2024first – last mentioned
100% neutral
Examines the destructive impact of journalists, anthropologists, and scientists on the Yanomami Indians, one of the Amazon Basin's oldest tribes.
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…appears in José Padilha's fascinating documentary about anthropologists Secrets of the Tribe, kind of an exposé of dirty secrets of anthropology, and a scandal about controversial allegations in the book Darkness in El Dorado. I'd read about Chagnon and the Yanomami, but not the grubby shambolic reality.
on “Return to the rainforest: A son's search for his Amazonian mother (2013)” ↗…competition for dominance, competition for status, physical and sexual violence, and overall strife present in primitive societies that were studied. The whole affair about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkness_in_El_Dorado is the most famous example of this. The accusations were largely discredited, but the damage was done. One consequence is that unsympathetic anthropologists were banned from Venezuela, where there is…
on “The Age of Rage: Why Are People Are So Angry?” ↗