This film illustrates the field techniques used by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Michigan in collaboration with their Venezuelan colleagues. The film describes the team's objectives - to understand the Yanomamo population structure in genetic and social terms - and the methods used in obtaining data.

Dedeheiwa the shaman weeds his manioc garden and clears the leaves around his plantains. Tired and sore, he rests while he is massaged and groomed by his wife and numerous children, with whom he plays affectionately.

The mission in Bisaasi-teri has a style and orientation quite different from the Salesian mission shown in Ocamo is My Town. The New Tribes Mission has been in this region since the early 1950s. Their main goal, the missionary-teacher in the film explains, is spiritual: to bring the message of Jesus and salvation to the Indians, and to teach them to reject their false gods, demons, and drugs.

In this vignette from daily life, Dedeheiwa's son returns from hunting and brings a wild turkey and a basket of fruit for his father-in-law. He dumps the goods on the ground, since avoidance rules prohibit him from delivering them directly.

In this myth, the Yanomamo account for the creation of human beings and for their ferocity. The myth is told by the shaman Dedeheiwa.

This film describes the work of an extraordinary Salesian priest, Padre Cocco, who has headed a mission on the Ocamo River since 1957. The mission's goal, he explains, is to soften the inevitable impact of "civilization" on the Yanomamo of this area.

This film presents a version of a myth, different from the Myth of Naro as Told by Dedeheiwa, in narrative detail and also in the individual raconteur's style.

Yanomamo feasts are ceremonial, social, economic, and political events. They are occasions for men to adorn their bodies with paint and feathers, to display their strength in dance and ritualized aggression; for trading partnerships to be established or affirmed; and for the creation or testing of alliances.

The playful side of Yanomamo life is shown on a day during the rainy season when women and children of the village play a game of tug-of-war.