Polyandry among the Yanomama Shirishana

Abstract

This paper is based on a study of the practice of polyandry among the Shirishana, a Yanomama tribe in the Amazon forest area of northwest Brazil. Its purpose is to compare the factors related to Shirishana polyandry with those indicated by the general literature on the subject. The literature frequently associates polyandry with a simple horticultural economy, with a heavy importance upon family life identity, and with a population with a low sex ratio. These assumptions were borne out in the Shirishana case study. Other common assumptions, evidenced in reseach, however, were not sustained. These included the hypothesis that plural marriage is a minority practice in any society; that polyandry is used by a wealthy class to maintain its status; that polyandry is associated with extremely adverse economic conditions; that polyandry increases female status;that polyandry is the preferred marriage form by either men or women.