July 12, 2002

Yanomami Research Becomes the Stuff of a Novel; a New Mystery Satirizes African-American Studies

By Peter Monaghan and Jennifer K. Ruark

ACADEME MEETS FICTION, PART 1: Before the accusations flew that Napoleon A. Chagnon had both mistreated and misrepresented the Yanomami people, his research made the Amazon tribe one of the most recognized indigenous groups among American college graduates. His 1968 book, Yanomamo: The Fierce People (Harcourt Brace), was a mainstay of introductory anthropology classes.

Now, as the American Anthropological Association releases its final report on the charges against Mr.