We would like to thank in the first place
the communities of Tirei, Yaritha and Xereu for their patience, understanding
and help with the survey and for their hospitality in the Homoxi region - in
particular Antonio, Maranhão, Robi, Renaxi, Francisco, Jovem and Arai.
We are also very grateful to the constant
help of our Yanomami friends from Demini - Isligue and Raimundo Watoriki thëripë - who
accompanied us in Homoxi and provided constant assistance in every aspect of
the field research.
We thank Alcida Rita Ramos (President of CCPY, www.proyanomami.org.br) and David Cleary (The Nature Conservancy, Brasília) for their efforts to make this project happen.
We thank also the CCPY staff, in particular Fernando Bittencourt and Jô de Oliveira (executive secretariat, Brasília office), and Conceição de Maria Chagas Ribeiro (administrative assistant, Boa Vista office) for their very efficient work to make logistical and institutional arrangements for our field trip.
The project received invaluable logistical and intellectual support from the URIHI health project (www.urihi.org.br)[1] and we would particularly like to acknowledge Dr Cláudio Esteves de Oliveira (President) and Dra Deise Alves Francisco (Vice-President) for their help and friendship.
Manoel da Vera Cruz Leal Bezerra (Homoxi health worker, URIHI) gave patient help in every aspect of fieldwork.
Antonio de Oliveira Marques (informatician and economist, URIHI) gave very efficient support to B.A. with computer work on demographic and health data from the Homoxi region.
Various researchers at INPA (Manaus) lent their support and advice to the project including Cid Ferreira and Rogerio Gribel (who made the herbarium facilities available), Zé Ramos, Tania Sanaiotti (who also kindly offered accommodation to WM in Manaus), Victor Py Daniel, João Ferraz, Rita Mesquita, Jansen Svanson, Albertina Lima and Celio Magalhaes Filho. In addition, Dr Elena Fioretti of the Museu Integrado de Roraima kindly made her institution’s plant drying facilities available to the project.
The hair
samples were analysed by Dr Elisabeth Santos at the Instituto Evandro Chagas,
Belém water and soil samples by José Paulo Sarmento and Udson Barradas do
Nascimento of the Coordenação de Ciências da Terra e Ecologia, Museu Paraense
Emílio Goeldi.
Dr Marta Azevedo, anthropologist and demographer (Instituto Socioambiental, São Paulo) kindly commented on the Homoxi demographic data for B.A.
Last but not least, the research was undertaken with special authorisation from FUNAI (Autorização em caráter excepcional n° 011/CGEP/02, 18/03/2002), and we thank its former President Glênio da Costa Alvares - a great friend to the Yanomami cause - for his support and for the privilege of receiving special authorisation at very short notice.
[1] This support included provision of flights into and out of the Yanomami area, which were essential for allowing the survey to operate within its budget, permanent logistical support in the field and providing many unpublished reports and documents on the Homoxi region.