THE BASIC MORAL ISSUE

When public institutions promise to right a wrong -- a wrong they acknowledge -- and then fail to do so, should students encourage these public institutions to keep their word? Or should students leave this matter to others who are directly affected by the problem?

The problem faced in this issue is that those who are most affected by the failure of certain public institutions to keep their promises live thousands of miles away and essentially have no way of highlighting the broken promises of these institutions nor making them follow through on them. Since anthropology has overwhelmingly benefitted from these people, should anthropology students now help these people in their time of need? Or should anthropology students place their faith in these people's self-reliance and let them solve the problem themselves because they are more emotionally involved in the problem than the students are?

THE FACTS OF THE CASE

FACT 1: The Yanomami have played a prominent role in the publicizing of anthropology to college students and, through them, to the broader public. Literally millions of students have been introduced to the Yanomami through introductory courses in anthropology over the past 40 years. But aside from the gifts presented to the Yanomami by various anthropologists during their fieldwork, the Yanomami have received relatively little compensation while anthropologists, building on the group’s renown, have built prominent careers and gained financially. [Supporting Documentation]

FACT 2: In the late 1960s, prominent American researchers collected blood samples from the Yanomami Indians for their research. In return for the blood samples, the Yanomami were given a number of valued items – such as machetes and pots. The Yanomami were promised that the blood samples would be used to gather information that would prove helpful to fighting the diseases ravaging them. [Supporting Documentation]

FACT 3: This promise was never kept. Instead the blood samples have been mostly used in research relating to academic subjects (such as prehistoric migration patterns). The research results have been published in academic journals and, to a degree, assisted in advancing the careers of the researchers involved. [Supporting Documentation]

FACT 4: No living Yanomami claims to have known that the blood samples were still being stored in the United States long after the end of the expedition. When the Yanomami discovered this – through the media controversy surrounding the publication of a particular book in 2000 (Patrick Tierney’s Darkness in El Dorado)– they requested the return of their relatives' blood. [Supporting Documentation]

FACT 5: The reason the Yanomami want the return of these blood samples is related to Yanomami religious beliefs. Yanomami believe that all parts of a deceased Yanomami must be deposed of so the living can leave this world in peace rather than be forced to remain here. The fact that dead Yanomami may become angry at not being able to leave this world in peace can have repercussions for the living. The dead may bring harm to them. [Supporting Documentation]

FACT 6: The Attorney General of the Brazilian State of Roraima – where most of the Brazilian Yanomami live – formally requested both Pennsylvania State University and the National Cancer Institute to return the blood samples in their possession. Both have agreed to do so in writing. [Supporting Documentation]

FACT 7: Despite the appearance good intentions all around, the samples have not been returned. There have only been prevarications and bureaucratic delays. [Supporting Documentation]

WHY HAVE THE BLOOD SAMPLES NOT BEEN RETURNED?

PREVARICATION 1 (espoused by Prof. Weiss at Pennsylvania State University): It is dangerous to send the blood samples back to the Yanomami. The samples may contain disease which, when opened, could transmit disease to living Yanomami.
FACT A: The National Cancer Institute has never mentioned any problem with returning the blood samples in a medically safe manner. The estimated cost, for the NCI to properly prepare the blood samples for shipment is roughly $2,000 - $3,000.
FACT B: The Federal University of the State of Para (UFPa) – which were given some of the blood samples from the American expedition – was able to medically transfer the blood samples back to Roraima, as requested by the Attorney General, with the proper medical cautions. No medical problems resulted to the Yanomami or those who handled the blood samples.
FACT C: The blood samples are legally “owned” by Pennsylvania State University, not Dr. Weiss, and they have agreed to return the blood samples.

PREVARICATION 2 (espoused by the lawyer at the National Cancer Institute working on the repatriation of the Yanomami blood). The blood samples cannot be returned until the Institute has formal, legal clearance from the Brazilian government.
FACT A: The letter sent by the Attorney General’s Office in Roraima in 2006 to the National Cancer Institute indicates that the Attorney General’s Office in Roraima has the right to provide legal clearance and formally did so in the letter sent to the Institute.
FACT B: The lawyer involved in the repatriation process at the National Cancer Institute is requesting that a representative of the Brazilian government sign a legal waiver removing the National Cancer Institute from any legal liability in respect to the samples. However, this legal waiver has not been made public nor is it clear that it has even been formalized in writing.
FACT C: As various Yanomami quotes from the Nape Video indicate, the blood samples are going to be ceremonially destroyed upon their return. It makes little sense, then, for the National Cancer Institute to demand that they be absolved of any and all legal liability in both the transport and return of the blood samples. The condition of the blood samples in transit is not terribly relevant given they will, upon arrival, be ceremonially destroyed within a relatively short period of time. The attorney is missing the cultural context and, instead, is imposing her own legal framework on the Yanomami.
FACT D: Given the National Cancer Institute has, to date, successfully dodged fulfilling its promise, it seems quite reasonable that it could call upon similar stalling tactics if a small group of Amazonian Indians, thousands of miles from the United States, sought to sue them AFTER ALL THE EVIDENCE -- the blood samples -- HAD BEEN DESTROYED. There would be no proof of damage.

REFLECTING ON THE CHOICES OPEN TO THE STUDENTS

WHY STUDENTS MIGHT WISH TO ADVOCATE FOR THE YANOMAMI?

(1) The Yanomami are suffering from a number of serious ills involving life-threatening illnesses as well as the illegal invasion of their territory by gold miners. The Hutukara - Associação Yanomami (the Yanomami organization, or NGO, the Yanomami have created to represent their interests) is not asking the Community Action Website’s help in addressing these problems since these are not problems the Community Action Project can really help with. The Hutukara - Associação Yanomami is asking the help of Canadian and American college students to assist with the one thing they can do – facilitating the return of their deceased relatives’ blood so it can be ritually destroyed allowing their deceased relatives to depart this earth in peace.
(2) Introductory anthropology students have already played an instrumental role in getting Pennsylvania State University to agree to return the blood. The Brazilian Attorney Generals in Roraima, who legally represent the Yanomami, were repeatedly ignored by American institutions when they made requests for the return of the Yanomami blood. The step that broke the “log jam” so to speak in respect to Pennsylvania State University was when students wrote directly to the President of Pennsylvania State University.
(3) Both the National Cancer Institute and Pennsylvania University have promised, in writing, to return the blood samples. But they are now creating various delays so they can appear to be doing "the right thing" while avoiding actually returning the blood. The Yanomami cannot bring pressure to bear on these groups because they live in the Amazon thousands of miles from Canada and the United States. But students can bring such pressure to bear through writing Op-Ed pieces and having them published in local, state and national newspapers or on the internet.

WHY STUDENTS MIGHT WISH NOT TO GET INVOLVED?

(1) It is unreasonable to request North American students assist in facilitating the return of the blood samples when it is really the responsibility of the Yanomami themselves to resolve the situation.
(2) Students know relatively little about this problem. It would take weeks to learn enough to be able to make a sensible decision as to whether to get involved or not. Given the various demands on students, most students do not have the time to conduct a thorough investigation into the issue.
(3) This is a problem that does not directly affect students. The students have acted honorably -- they have not caused any harm to the Yanomami. Asking students to go beyond the anthropological standard of "doing no harm" to actually helping others, particularly when it does not involve students directly, is asking too much.

CHOOSING A THIRD WAY

Students are not required to choose between the two options above -- of advocating or not advocating for the Yanomami. They can affirm another, intermediate position -- besides these two -- that combines elements of both or approaches the problem in a different manner. Students are free to develop their own position in their own creative way as long as they address the topic of the blood samples. (They cannot wander of on to another topic and discuss that. They must stick with this topic.)