Rating: 
Summary: Author responds to Irregardless
Review:
Thank you so much for your review posted Oct 12, 2004. We at Island Lake Press thank you for your willingness to express a view, maybe even a majority view, that almost no one has had the courage to place on the table for public consideration. We will print your review in the next edition of the book.
Progress runs on the rails of ideas. What you call the "intrusion of Christian missionaries," I will reduce, for purpose of this discussion, to one Christian idea, namely, "Love-trumps-violence." While my book, Spirit of the Rainforest, never uses the words Jesus or God, I freely admit that the idea, Love-trumps-violence, is uniquely credited to Jesus and was spread to the Yanomamo Indians by missionaries. The idea is revolutionary, achieved at considerable personal price, and has brought peace and great progress to Honey Village and a few others.
What I find troubling is that the violence doesn't bother you, but the peace does.
If you'd like to see a place that has been protected from the "intrusion of Christian missionaries," you should look at the Islamic countries of the world. There has been almost no missionary activity in these countries. May we assume that it doesn't bother you that many citizens in these countries are taught the virtues of killing Jews and other infidels? And may we further assume that it would bother you if they had the option to choose love and forgiveness, ideas of Jesus?
I can assure you, Irregardless, that the 19 hijackers who attacked us on 9/11 never had the benefit of a missionary to tell them that love is a more excellent way than killing. Would it have bothered you if someone had told them, "Love-trumps-killing," and allowed them to decide for themselves? Does Hairy's commitment to love and forgiveness really bother you? (Remember Hairy?) Since Hairy's conversion to Christianity he has not killed any of his wives. I honestly doubt that this bothers you, but please trust me when I say, and I'm not being coy in the least, that Hairy's wives appreciate it a lot.
Progress runs on the rails of ideas. The idea that Love-trumps-killing should not bother you or threaten anyone. Indeed, I pray that the day will come when you see that killing is bothersome, and Love-trumps-killing is worthy of your honest consideration.
Rating: 
Summary: A look into the kingdom of darkness
Review: An unbiased look at the kingdom of darkness in action thru the eyes of a shaman in the amazon.Carefully read how the people are manipulated ,taught to kill, kept in fear and desperation by these spirits. Also carefully read how that changes as first one; then more villages accept the influence of yai pada (the father who loves them thru Christ His son). More real info on spiritual warfare here than almost any written just on that subject. Absolutely explodes the contention of many that there is no devil or evil influence in this world.
Rating:
Summary: A Yanomamo speaks to the world...
Review: and turns it upside-down!Who would you say is most believable concerning what is best for the Yanomamo People: a possibly biased, more "educated," but perhaps even less civilized anthropologist interpreting the Yanomamo, or the people themselves? Jungleman, a former shaman, speaks for himself and his people and shows us the difference between the spirits of shamanism and the great spirit, the God of the Bible. Of secondary importance, his verifiable exposure of the real nature of the anthropologists "studying" the Yanomamo for the past three decades should leave the "educated" world hanging its head in shame. To not see the dollar signs (plus much worse, that I'll leave the reader to discover) cloaked in their studies is to put our heads in the sand. Jungleman has much to say that we should all listen to if we are to be intellectually honest in any study of the Yanomamo and other animistic groups. If you could only read one book on the Yanomamo, this would be it since it is direct from the source, and not an interpretation. Mark Ritchie and translator/researcher Gary Dawson, should be commended for helping the Yanomamo tell their own story and, unlike others, to conduct their work gratuitously, with all royalties from the sale of this book going to the Yanomamo people.
Rating:
Summary: Shoefoot speaks to Irregardless
Review: Dictated to Michael Dawson by Shoefoot, aging leader of Honey Village (Cosheloweteli) located on the Padamo River in Venezuela. (see translation below)
Yaiwäbädao,
Camiyä Mamicö Sabadowä ya wa jilou. Iba jeliyä sho, Marko sho yamacö ojotamoma libro cäcä ja. Täa bejedi, täa nasimi. Nobleaö ya macä cuo yaiyo täjä, Yai Batanö cama ebä shimölönö. Cama ya ma noji nööjöbölema. Cama e nojinö, jei täjä yamacö noji. Yamacö bälöa yanöcöwä. Jei täjä yamacä niyayou imi. Suwä ya ma bä shaimau imi. Yamacö demö. Yamacö ijilubä bluca, bä demö. Yanomamö bä beji wa tä daimi. Wa juu imi. Yamacö nowatäo maqui, enajabäo wa cuu badao. Yamalecö möö maija a wadi nasimo dijä. Caja wa ma dobladao ja ayaicuna, a wadi nasimodijä. Wamalicö no waibla dijä. Yamacö lä cua bole wa tä daimi. Jäyäjä wa walo dao jacunoja, bä wadi moli bäyäblaö maqui, wa blajawä quidowä. Ibä bä no lä bleabole wa tä möö dao ja cunojä inaja wa ma cuu ma mao. Äjä tä uliji jamo wa ja dobla ja ayaicuno a wadi ajaö dijä. Mamicai cä a wadi da cuicu. Culenaja camiwa yamacö ija wa blajawa macui, wamalecu jushudama dijä. Camiya Yanomamö yamacö no lä bleabole ja, wa wadi ja cuicunö, inaja ya cuu ja cunoja, wa wadi nabä no cemocueböwei. Yamacu no lä watäobole yamacö ija, wawa jilimamou no wayuaä ja, yamacu jushudou. Mamicai cä a da cuicu! Iba teli bata cä ya. Ya lä shomi blaliyonowei cäya.
Translation by Michael Dawson (Yanomamö is Dawson's mother tongue. He was born and raised in a Yanomamö village. He learned English in school at the age of seven.)
Irregardless,
I am called Shoefoot. With my brother-in-Law and Mark I worked on this book. It is truth, not lies. While we were suffering terribly the Supreme Being sent his people to us. We learned of His love. Because of His love, we now love. We live in peace. We no longer are shooting each other. We are no longer stealing women. We are alive. We have many children. They are alive. You don't know anything about the Yanomamö. You have never come here. Although we are dying out, "that's OK," you say. Without seeing us, don't be lying about our condition. You are living well, so don't just want that for yourself, and try to keep us suffering. Stop lying. That is showing your contempt for our suffering. You have no idea how we lived. If you could come to my jungle I would really discuss this with you, but you are far away. I believe if you could really see how my people suffer you would not talk like this. So don't live your good life far away and talk about something you know nothing about. Just stay quiet over there. Although you are far away, don't try to make us angry, and if you ever do come to my land, don't talk like this, because if the Yanomamö hear you say this, they will fight you. If the ones that are dying out, hear you talk like this, they are going to believe you are mocking us and get angry. Just keep your thoughts to yourself. I am a leader in my village. I am one whose life has been changed.
Rating:
Summary: A FASCINATING READ!!!
Review: I PICKED THIS BOOK UP AFTER SEEING CHIEF SHOEFOOT, GARY DAWSON AND MARK RITCHIE SPEAK AT OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY. SHOEFOOT WAS OBVIOUSLY QUITE INTELLIGENT. I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND AT THAT TIME WHY HE STRESSED OVER AND OVER THAT THE YANOMAMO ARE HUMAN, "JUST LIKE YOU." HE WAS INDIGNANT ABOUT THE WAY THEY HAVE BEEN PORTRAYED ON T.V. HE MADE IT CLEAR THAT THEY ARE NOT 'THE MISSING LINK' AS SOME ANTHROS HAVE ASSERTED. SHOEFOOT WAS FASCINATING AND SO IS THIS BOOK. A REAL EYE-OPENER ABOUT THE SPIRIT WORLD. IT MAKES ME WORRY FOR THE NEW-AGERS WHO ARE SEEKING THEIR OWN "SPIRIT GUIDES." IT IS A SURE INVITATION TO THE SAME MISERY THAT JUNGLEMAN DESCRIBES.
Rating:
Summary: Tighten your seat-belt; you're in for a ride.
Review: I received this book in the mail one day earlier this month, and finished it by about the same time the next day -- despite the fact that I had three 90 minute college classes to teach, and needed to prepare for a trip to Taiwan. It was that good, and that aweful. I had devoured a good chunk of the book by the time I turned on my computer and learned the terrible news from New York. I kept reading; there seemed to be a connection. The book is an absolutely mind-blower of a story, but if we were to translate the events it describes into a thesis, one sub-point of that thesis would be: "Mass murder and sincere spirituality are not mutually exclusive, by any means." As Ritchie put it, "(Ex-shaman and Yamomamo Indian Shoefoot) has no problem understanding the Columbine High School massacre or any other killing spree. The spirits of anger and hatred that own and drive a person are spirits he has known personally." It occured to me that we have the same choice as confronts the "converted" village in this book: to seek justice with mercy and caution, and danger to ourselves, or to pass on forgiveness and descend to the level of our enemies. While in Taiwan, I was asked to speak about the relationship between Christianity and Islam, and found myself wishing I'd brought the book along. Jungleman puts so many things so well. This is not a book you want to read your children to sleep by. It might not even work for your church (still less, coven) book-of-the-month club. Besides being full of violence, its message will be a challenge to skeptics and those who are attracted to the occult. But anyone who is untouched by it, by the pain, beauty, pathos, irony, and danger of being human that it reveals, of living in a spiritual jungle as responsible beings, must have a heart of stone. Jungleman reminds us that before a person is a "native" and subject of anthropological study, he is a human being -- and that "social scientists" and missionaries forget their common humanity and responsibility to Yai Pada, the Great Spirit, at their own peril. As a student of world religions who has written a bit about the occult in Asian traditions and the idea of God in Asian belief systems, I found a great deal that was a priori credible in this inside description of the Yanomamo culture, though of course I have no means of vouching for the specific accuracy of the events it records. Mark Ritchie's earlier book, God in the Pits, is also worth a read, though it is not as mind-blowning as this book. I also recommend Peace Child, by Don Richardson, which comes close to resembling Spirit of the Rainforest, though more conventional in approach, it is also a remarkable true story of a stone-age tribe that meets Jesus. author, Jesus and the Religions of Man // ...
Rating: 
Summary: Anthropology?
Review: I was certainly bothered by this book though not because of the graphic violence, but by the fact that this is really a christian apology. Under the guise of speaking through a Yanomamo shaman (now deceased), it presents a bleak view of constant suffering of this Amazonian tribe. Then, whites (nabas) bring Jesus to the jungle and everything is becomes wonderful.
While pretending to be an anthropolgy book, it is really an attempt to justify the intrusion of Christian missionaries into the lives of "primitives" all over the globe.
Rating:
Summary: No Noble Savages here!
Review: My first contact with an indigenous people group was in Viet Nam. Our unit came in contact with a group of Montagnards who were angry that we had destroyed part of their garden. All of these men had crossbows and they were ready to do battle. They did not seem overly concerned about the fact that we had automatic weapons. These were brave men protecting their territory. We backed down and compensated them for the damage. I was in Viet Nam for one year. I lived for 6 years in Haiti and 4 years in Ecuador. During those times I had the opportunity to observe and interact with a number of different people groups. I have come to understand that we are all basically the same. We can be violent people, and we can be caring people. I appreciate Ritchie's book because I can relate to many of the emotions felt by the Yanomamo but especially the fear. All warriors know that they could become a casualty, and do whatever they can to prevent themselves from becoming one. All warriors know fear too. No matter how much they try to hide that fear, it is there. I am grateful for Ritchie's book because jungleman talks about that fear and how it can take away the joys of life. This book is real. It talks about a people who are not happy living a life of fear. I am grateful for people like Ritchie who are not intimidated by those who foolishly think that the rainforest is an Eden, and that the Yanomamo are content in their present situation.
Rating:
Summary: Clarity in the Controversy
Review: Ritchie has found a way to present the Yanomamo people as fully human. Their humor, passions, insights and strong-wills are displayed alongside the brutality of their society. Nothing is held back, for better or worse. Those who criticize this book as missionary propaganda are not reading it accurately. Ritchie does a credible job of describing how missionaries make mistakes. At the end of the book I felt that the missionaries had as much to learn from the Yanomamo as the Yanomamo had to learn from the missionaries! I found this book to be one filled with hope. It shows how society and culture can be influenced by the spiritual world as the hearts of people are transformed. That message alone is worth the price!
Rating:
Summary: Incredible look at people as we really are.
Review: Ritchie's book blew me away. It showed me that no matter what code of ethics one has, human beings still violate their own standards. The Yanomamo Indians have a standard which we would depict as savage: revenge killings, even when they did not know the perpetrator (as when disease takes a life); marriage by rape; wife beating ok to keep woman in line and preserve one's standing in the village; lying and stealing an expected way of life; etc. Even with these lower standards, Jungleman (one of the main characters) violated his own standards and was haunted with guilt since he violated his conscience. We keep thinking that guilt is just because of standards too high and restrictive. Spirit of the Rainforest showed me that changing the standards wouldn't help. People are the same everywhere. We would still do evil. The descriptions of the spirit world were also mind blowing. It is incredible to read first-hand accounts of trafficing with spirits! "Spirit" is a must read. Go for it! Christopher Barnes
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