Yanomamö choice of weapons

The weapons of choice for the Yanomamö are the machete, axe, and bows and arrows with curare-poisoned "husu namo" points. The point has one-inch intervals where they are rather purposely weakened, giving the arrows the ability to break off into the body of the victim, enabling the poison to be absorbed and making it extremely difficult to remove.

The Yanomamö as well as other Indian tribes in the Amazon Basin hunt with bows and arrows or blow guns. The blowguns of the Amazon tribes are all made in a similar way. A piece of cane is used to fashion the shaft as it must be long and straight. Often a thinner pieces of cane is fitted inside a larger piece. A mouthpiece is cut or carved from wood. The darts are made from sharpened fibers and balanced on the end with either cotton, which they grow in the villages, or the fiber of the kapok tree. They often use poison from the poison dart frog to dip the ends of the darts in. They stroke the sides of the frog causing it to excrete the poison, sand then boil it down to intensify it. Blowguns are amazingly accurate.

Although the darts seem fragile, they can easily piece a tree, and when used with the poison can bring down the largest game. The darts are carried in a quiver. These are often made from a section of bamboo. The top of the quiver can be made from animal hide or may be woven into a basket shape. The quiver can be entirely woven like a basket or even made from leaves. Some tribes such as the Guahibo decorate the shafts of the blowguns with woven fibers. The bows and arrows of the Amazon tribes are all made in a similar way. A flexible piece of wood fashions the bow and is strung with a hand spun fiber found in the rain forest. The arrows are made with a piece of cane for the shaft and are fletched with feathers. Yanomamö arrowheads are carved with wood sharpened twigs or the bones of animals, birds, or fish, while other tribes, such as the Guahibo, often use scrap metal to fashion their points. Young boys begin at an early age to practice archery skills, often with a lizard tied to a string.

Above are weapons used by the Yanomamö for both hunting and war. However, in war they would put poison at the tips of the arrows and spears to make it almost fatal to the enemy.