Magical Death

Synopsis: Focuses on the role of the shaman (Dedeheiw in this case) in curing his Yanomamo co-villagers and sending sickness to enemy villages. The use of hallucinogenic snuff is shown in its daily context. Illustrates how religion serves political ends and how shamans can manipulate the spirit world to demonstrate their allegiance to allies. The emphasis is on one specific event and how it develops in terms of the history of the political relationship between two specific villages which are entering into a new alliance.
Language: English
Country: United States
Medium: Film; Film. 16mm. sd. col. 29 min.
Technical information: Black-and-white / Sound
Year of production: 1973
Availability: Hire
Notes: Reviewed by E R Wolf in ‘American Anthropologist’, vol 74 (1972), pp196-8.
Uses: Courses in anthropology for audiences who already have at least a little knowledge of Yanomamo ethnography. *RAI
Subjects: Anthropology; Religious studies
Keywords: Brazil; shamans; Venezuela; Yanomami

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