Negative Positive
Title: brilliant, in-depth journalism, hated by myth-makers
Review: Ritchie is not an anthropologist, or a missionary, or a tourist, or... Finally, a fascinating portrayal of what a 'primitive' or 'native' people think of all the foreign interlopers. I'm sure this book infuriates a lot of (not all) anthropologists, because it reveals how wrong some renowned anthros were about the Yanomamo people's world view, desires, sexuality, warfare, etc. It also exposes the widespread anthro-myth that missionaries are clumsy culture destroyers, and that 'primitive' people are happy in their spiritism and nakedness until ruined by vile, western, kill-joy religion. Here is the story of what a Yanomamo shaman experienced in his life before and after he met a variety of foreigners (anthropologists, missionaries, ethno- and eco-tourists, miners & loggers, et al.), and what he thought of each. This book parallels many similar stories elsewhere (esp. in the Amazon, in Papua), but this one is especially well told.
Is the review positive or negative? 