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Glossary of Yąnomamö Terms

I put together a list of terms and definitions while writing my novel about an anthropologist studying the Yąnomamö. Good for students or researchers, or anyone else looking to learn some basic terms of the language. These definitions are mostly my own paraphrasing of Napoleon Chagnon’s.

...tari                         

suffix signaling the name of a collection of villages, like Shamatari

…-teri                        

suffix signaling the name of a village, like Bisaasi-teri

a brahawä shoawä      

expression that means "It's still a long way off." 

abawä                          

older brother

aîwä                             

also older brother

amoamo                      

a ritual to ensure success in the hunt, dances performed by women and girls while the men seek game

awei                             

yes

babracot                      

platform made of sticks 3 feet over a campfire for cooking/smoking meat

bädao                          

without cause, as in "killing without cause." 

bareto                          

biting gnats

barröwo                      

to lead the way on a trail

basho                           

spider monkey 

beshi                            

to be horny (something seldom admitted openly)

bisaasi                         

palm leaf

bore                             

malevolent wandering spirit with glowing eyes

boshe                           

small white-lipped peccary

browähäwä                 

politically important man

buhii                            

spirit or soul--particularly the will

date (dah-tay)              

sweet, boiled plantain soup

dehiaö                         

to eat a bite of meat, then a bite of vegetables, and chew them together

duku kä misi                

uppermost of four layers to the cosmos

ebene                           

hallucinogenic green powder shot through a tube into shaman's nostrils

habe                            

father

habo                            

come over here

he borara                    

term used to describe a village (shabono) that has fissioned into two, with the newer one staying close by for protection from enemy raiders

hedu kä misi                

the sky layer, the underside of which we see when we look up, on top of which the dead and no badabö live        

hei kä misi                   

the earth layer in the Yąnomamö cosmos

hei tä bebi                   

lowermost layer of the cosmos, the one beneath the earth we occupy

hekamaya                    

son-in-law or nephew (sister's son)

hekura                         

spirits who travel down hammock strings from the sky layer to commune with shamans (tiny light beings seen after taking ebene)

heniyomou                  

hunting trip

himo                            

shorter, but deadlier club with sharpened edges, used when nabrushi fight has escalated

hisiomö                       

seeds used to make ebene

hori                             

poor; literally, to be without tobacco

horeö                           

to crawl or creep, as when learning to walk

howashi                       

capuchin monkey

hushuwo                      

sad and volatile; emotional state common at reahu (funeral)

huya                            

young bachelor looking for adventure (and often looking for trouble)

ihiru (formal ihirubö)  

infant or either sex

iro                                

howler monkey

iwä                              

caiman

kawa amou                 

shouted, often poetic monologue given by a man at night after most villagers are settled in their hammocks

ma                               

no

madohe                       

manufactured goods like machetes, axes, fishhooks and line, etc. brought in for trade

mashi                          

blood relations (as opposed to shori, in-laws), reckoned through patrilineal descent

middi                           

darkness

mohode                       

caught unawares 

moko dude                  

a recently post-pubescent female who has never had a child

moyawe                       

alert, suspicious, wary

nabä                            

foreigner; non-Yąnomamö

nabrushi                      

long clubs used for duels

nara                             

red paint applied to the body

no badabö                   

"those who are now dead"; "the original humans"; mythical precursors to Yąnomamö, some of whom travel from the hedu layer to earth as hekura

no mraiha                   

the giving of a gift with the expectation that it will be reciprocated at some later date instead of on the spot

no owa                        

effigy representing a man from enemy village, used as a dummy for practice raids

nomohori                    

"dirty trick"; a deception, often an invitation to a feast, that can result in an ambush and several members of the visiting village killed

noreshi                         

animal alter ego

obo                              

armadillo

ohodemu                     

work

oka                              

harmful magic from a particular plant that is blown toward the enemy; suspicions of the use of this magic are the cause of many killings

öra                               

jaguar

oshe                             

a young child of either sex

owa                             

little brother

pajui                            

wild turkey

pata                             

"big one"; headman

patayoma                    

an old woman

rahaka                         

lanceolate arrow tip used for killing humans, often dipped in curare poison

rahara                         

river serpents; dragons

rasha                           

palm fruit

riyahäwä                     

beautiful

rohode                         

an old man; old person

shabono                      

the circular or ovular structure formed by joined yahis into a large communal dwelling with an open courtyard

shabori                        

shaman; man who communes with the hekura

shaki or shakiwä          

pesky bee; name given to Shackely 

shama                          

tapir

shoabe                         

father-in-law or mother's brother

shori (formal shoriwä) 

brother-in-law; term used to address strangers; in-laws as opposed to patrilineal relatives (mashi)

shuwahi                       

woman who flees her village in search of a husband who will treat her better

sina                              

adjective used to describe a man who's a poor marksman with his bow and arrows

sioha                            

a man from another village doing bride service for his wife's family

siohamou                    

bride service--period of work done for in-laws' family as part of a marriage exchange

suaböya                       

mother's brother's daughter; cross-cousin; or wife (same term)

suhebä ukaö                

a girl whose nipples are beginning to get hard

suwa härö                   

a female who is about the age of puberty; also, the magical charms such a female may use

suwa pata                    

a mature woman

tora                             

baboo quiver tied to hunters back

unokai                         

man who has killed another man (or several)

unokaimou                  

ritural cleansing and quarantining undertaken by a man after killing another man

urihi                            

jungle; nature

urihi ä rimö                 

having to do with beasts and animal things as opposed to humans and human things (yahi tä rimö)

Wa bei kä he shami    

"Your forehead is filthy," one of the worst insults

wabu                           

fruit from which originated women in Yąnomamö myth

waiteri                         

fierce; aggressive in defending one's honor; also noun, a man who's waiteri

waiyamou                   

marathon competitive chanting

waiyumö                     

long camping trip that can last days or weeks

wara                            

large-collared peccary

waro pata                    

a mature man

wayu huu                    

raid

wayu itou                    

ritual lineup of warriors in preparation for a raid, usually performed during reahu mortuary ceremony

wayu käbä                   

raider

weshi                           

to have lots of pubic hair (a turn-on for men)

yai                               

"true"

yahediba                     

electric eels

yahi                             

portion of a shabono for individual nuclear families; house

yahi tä rimö                

having to do with humans and human things as opposed to beasts and animal things (urihi ä rimö)

yano                            

small hunting tent

yaöya                           

mother's sister's daughter; parallel cousin; or sister (same term)

yawaremou                 

incest

yawäwä                       

a young boy who has started tying his penis to his waist string

yaya                             

mother-in-law

yiwä                             

an adolescent male whose muscles are getting hard

Also read: NAPOLEON CHAGNON'S CRUCIBLE AND THE ONGOING EPIDEMIC OF MORALIZING HYSTERIA IN ACADEMIA

And: JUST ANOTHER PIECE OF SLEAZE: THE REAL LESSON OF ROBERT BOROFSKY'S "FIERCE CONTROVERSY"