Secrets of the Tribe

Director: José Padilha
Theatrical Release Date:
Criticwire: A-

Synopsis: The field of anthropology goes under the magnifying glass in this fiery investigation of the seminal research on Yanomami Indians. In the 1960s and ’70s, a steady stream of anthropologists filed into the Amazon Basin to observe this "virgin" society untouched by modern life. Thirty years later, the events surrounding this infiltration have become a scandalous tale of academic ethics and infighting. The origins of violence and war and the accuracy of data gathering are hotly debated among the scholarly clan. Soon these disputes take on Heart of Darkness overtones as they descend into shadowy allegations of sexual and medical violation. Director José Padilha brilliantly employs two provocative strategies to raise unsettling questions about the boundaries of cultural encounters. He allows professors accused of heinous activities to defend themselves, and the Yanomami to represent their side of the story. As this riveting excavation deconstructs anthropology’s colonial legacy, it challenges our society’s myths of objectivity and the very notion of “the other.” [Synopsis courtesy of the Sundance Film Festival]

2 Comments

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Matt | March 3, 2011 11:38 AMReply

Ah, the Yanomami controversy. Although the most criminal and heinous claims made against Chagnon and the late James Neel have been refuted, and the 2002 AAA report rescinded, Chagnon is still highly unethical in his ethnographic practices. He worked without informed consent, lying to villagers and violating death taboos of the people he was studying. He also supplied "just compensation" in the form of axes and machetes to only a few families, sparking outbursts of violence he recorded with Tim Asch to somehow lend creedence to his genetic determinist theories, which reek of 19th century scientific racism. This documentary MUST exist to protect indigenous peoples of the world from being exploited by Western academics looking to further their careers and asinine theories, and to stop future academics from repeating these mistakes.
Monsoon Eddy | March 3, 2011 5:50 AMReply

Napoleon Chagnon is the most renowned living anthropologists on the planet. The damning accusations in the documentary were publicly and factually refuted and Chagnon’s reputation cleared years ago. Editing to create controversy does a disservice to the truth and makes fools of the viewers, but the most damning aspect of this documentary is that it is slow and boring. Sadly, the film maker missed the real story about the Yamamano, Napoleon and the Catholic Salesians who control the Yamamano and orchestrated the attacks against Napoleon: The clash of religious ideology and science.