The Population Dynamics of the Mucajai Yanomama is an analysis of the Mucajai Yanomama, an Indian foraging/horticultural group located in northern Brazil. The text is an investigation of the population dynamics of the Yanomama Indians, using methods of quantitative demography and qualitative ethnography. The timeline of text focuses from 1958 to 1987, from their first ever contact with representative of the ""outer world"".
The book is divided into four major parts and comprised of a total of 10 chapters. Part One introduces the tribe of the Mucajai Yanomama and discusses their population dynamics, as well as provides an overview of postcontact period of 28 years. Part Two focuses on the demographic issues of the tribe. This part looks into variables, such as fertility, mortality, and migration, to understand factors such as cultural antecedents and age-sex structure. Part Three serves as a synthesis of the demographic variables and their relation to each other. The other issue synthesized in this part of the book is the impact of population structure to the cultural practices of the tribe. Lastly, Part Four provides the conclusion of the study and compares the results to other studies of Yanomama groups.
The text is a helpful resource mostly to anthropologists and evolutionary demographers, but can also be a reference to anyone who studies population dynamics.

IllustrationsTablesPrefacePart One Introduction 1. The Mucajai Yanomama I. The Research Area II. The First Permanent Contact III. Purpose of the Research IV. Sources of the Mucajai Database V. Some Editorial Considerations 2. The Population Dynamics of the Precontact Period I. History of the Yanomama II. The Mucajai Yanomama III. Population Dynamics of the Precontact Period IV. The Population Problem at the Time of Contact 3. Overview of the Postcontact Period, 1958-1987 I. Rate of Growth and Its Components II. Levels of Analysis and Demographic Indices III. Terminology IV. Cultural Factors Responsible for the Demographic Variables and Age-Sex Structure V. Phases of the Postcontact Period VI. The MissionariesPart Two Cultural and Demographic Structures of the Population Variables 4. The Reproductive Period I. Mating Pattern II. Female Reproductive Period III. Types of Birth Intervals and Their Duration IV. Reproductive Pattern: Age and Overall Levels of Fertility V. Summary 5. Determination of Age I. The Anthropological Problem of Age II. Estimation of Birth Dates from Fertility Histories III. Evaluation of the Averages as Estimators IV. Completeness of the Database Used for Fertility Histories V. Distinctiveness of the Mucajai Database 6. Migration I. History of Contacts with Other Yanomama Groups in the Postcontact Period II. Reasons for In-Migration III. Out-Migration IV. Net Migration 7. Mortality I. Infectious Disease II. Induced Abortion and Infanticide III. Infant Mortality IV. Other Causes of Death V. Yanomama Perception of Cause of Death VI. Life Expectancy and Group MortalityPart Three Synthesis 8. How the Population Increased I. Components of Total Increase II. Change of Age-Sex Structure of the Population III. In-Migration as a Key Factor of Change IV. Raiding and the Sex Ratio V. Cultural Impact of the Missionaries VI. Demographic Impact of the Missionaries VII. Demographic Change without the Missionaries VIII. Sexual Imbalance in the Precontact Population IX. Conclusion 9. The Effect of Changed Demographic Structures on Cultural Patterns I. Change of the Sex Ratio II. Change of Types of Sexual Unions III. Mother-in-Law Avoidance IV. Resources and Population Increase V. ConclusionPart Four Conclusion 10. Yanomama Population Dynamics I. Cultural Patterns II. Demographic Levels of the Patterns III. Fertility IV. Migration V. Mortality VI. Stationary or Increasing Population? VII. Some Implications for Population Research on Small-Scale Anthropological Societies VIII. The Evolution of Human Population Dynamics IX. ConclusionReferencesIndex