In 1967 a group of US scientists came to a Brazilian tribe and told them that they had to give blood. They did not specify what the blood was to be used for and left with it in exchange for basic everyday supplies, such as rope, matches, ect. It is a custom in this tribe to cremate bodies after death so that there are no physical attachments to the earth. It is believed to help them pass on into the next life. So keeping their blood locked in freezers thousands of miles away is obviously a concern for these people. Mr. Kopenawa, and indigenous member of the Yanomami tribe, spent ten years trying to retrieve the blood samples, and only recently succeeded.
According to the article, the blood samples were being used to determine whether or not the Yanomami people are direct descendants of the first people to cross the Bering Strait from Asia into the Americas thousands of years ago. While this is a progressive thing for science and history, it is disrespectful to these people’s culture and does not look good on the United States.
Posted by Sophie Terry
Latin American Reflections 