Population and dry-season subsistence strategies of the recently contacted Yora of Peru

The Panoan-speaking Yora (or Yaminahua) live in the headwaters region of the Madre de Dios, Urubamba, and Purus Rivers in Peru. This region is one of the most remote and least explored of the Amazon Basin; the Yora first made peaceful contact with outsiders only in 1984. During June and July 1986 the authors visited a Yora village. They present qualitative and quantitative data on Yora subsistence adaptations, including diet, time allocation to food acquisition, and food sharing. The data show significant riverine resource depletion near the Yora settlement. Results are discussed in light of current debate regarding protein resources, warfare, and disease as determinants of the size and distribution of native Amazonian populations. Health and recent mortality due to contact with Westerners are also discussed. -Authors