US man finds lost mother in Amazon tribe

By Maureen Callahan-May 24, 2014

Kenneth, youngest daughter Vanessa, Yarami and David in
Philadelphia.
When David Good was a kid, and his friends asked where his mother was, hed always
say the same thing: She died in a car crash.
I exerimented with resonses, and I fo!nd that the most effective," David says. #I
co!ld see the horror in their faces" $ he la!ghs $ #and there wo!ld %e no more
&!estions."
'is dad, (en, co!ldnt !nderstand: #Id say, )Why dont yo! *!st say yo!r moms
+ene,!elan, and yo!r arents are divorced- Its so common. "
.!t the story of Davids mom $ who she was, where she came from and why she left $
was so comlicated and ainf!l, he co!ldnt %ring himself to talk a%o!t it.
I didnt want my friends to know that my moms a naked *!ngle woman eating
tarant!las," he says today. #I didnt want to %e known as a half-%reed. /nd it was my
revenge0 I was angry that she left me. So I *!st wanted to stick with the story that she
was dead."

As a child, David Good lied to his friends about his mothers whereabouts. He would later stumble upon
this picture of Yarima in the Museum of Natural History during a class trip.
Davids mother, 1arima, is a mem%er of the 1anomami tri%e of +ene,!ela. She was
%orn and raised in the *!ngle, in a remote village that rarely, if ever, enco!nters any
o!tsiders, let alone Westerners. 'er age is !nknown, %eca!se the 1anomami co!nt
only ! to 20 anything more than that is called #many." 3hey have no electricity, no
l!m%ing, no aved roads, no written lang!age, no markets or c!rrency, no medicine.
3hey also have no word for #love."
Davids father, (enneth, was an anthroology st!dent at the 4niversity of
5ennsylvania who, !nder the t!telage of the rominent scholar 6aoleon 7hagnon,
made his first trek to the /ma,on in 89:;. #I was older than the rest of the team, and a
little more arrogant," he says. <xaserated, 7hagnon rid himself of (enneth, sending
him to the most remote art of the *!ngle.
3here, he st!m%led !on 1arimas tri%e. 'e was enthralled and fascinated, and made
so many ret!rn tris that the 1anomami came to regard (enneth as one of their own.
#3he head man of the village said, )1o! know, have a wife $ yo!ve %een here for so
long. "
YOU CAN BE DAMN SURE THAT SHE WAS THE AGE OF CONSENT IN MOST
STATES AND MANY COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD, WHICH I THINK IS 13.
THE CULTURAL AGE IS WHATS IMPORTANT DOWN THERE. DONT I HAVE
THE RIGHT TO DO THIS OR THAT IN ANOTHER CULTURE?
- K!!"# G$$%
In 89:=, he was offered 1arima, who was then a%o!t 9 to 82. Good was >?. 'e saw
no real ro%lem.
@iving down there, of co!rse I didnt care, and the 1anomami didnt care," (enneth
says. #A!r c!lt!re is o%sessed with n!m%ers."
'e says that the 1anomami dont have what we consider marriage0 instead, they
%etroth their girls $ even while in the wom% $ to tri%esmen for later cons!mmation.
(enneth says that a girl can ref!se her %etrothal, %!t he knew 1arima had feelings for
him, %eca!se she watched for him always, %ro!ght him food, ran down the river%ank
when he was aroaching.
(enneth has always taken !m%rage at the o%vio!s &!estion: 'ow old was 1arima when
their !nion was cons!mmated- #5.S asked me that once, and I said, )1o! can %e damn
s!re that she was the age of consent in most states and many co!ntries aro!nd the
world, " he says. #Which I think is 8>. 3he c!lt!ral age is whats imortant down there.
Dont I have the right to do this or that in another c!lt!re-"
'is former mentor 7hagnon $ himself controversial for his deicting the tri%e as
%loodthirsty warriors $ disagreed and oenly critici,ed (enneth for #marrying a
teenager." (enneths family, too, disaroved.
I %ro!ght 1arima home to my mother, and she said, )Bes!s, its one thing to st!dy
these eole $ %!t to marry one- What are yo! going to do with someone who can
only co!nt to 2- I said, )Well work it o!t. "
(enneth cond!cted a long-distance marriage with 1arima, living art-time in the
4nited States on his own, art-time with his yo!ng wife in the *!ngle. 'e was well-
&

f!nded %y a German instit!te and had an !nlimited exense acco!nt, %!t the
+ene,!elan government made it diffic!lt for him to come and go at will.
'e knew his a%sences left 1arima v!lnera%le, %!t the work was *!st as imortant.
.efore he dearted for a short tri %ack to the States sometime in 89=?, (enneth told
1arima hed %e %ack %y the f!ll moon, or three weeks time. #.!t I was gone for fo!r
months," he says, and 1arima, her rotector gone, was gang-raed %y 2C to >C men
over a eriod of weeks. 'er earlo%e was nearly shorn off.

Baby Vanessa, Yarima, Kenneth and Daniel Gross are seen near their home.
3hat," (enneth says, as if recalling a flat tire, or some other minor n!isance. #She was
really angry with me. She said, )Why didnt yo! come %ack sooner- " 'e wo!ld later
say he made an error in *!dgment %y leaving her for so long, that he knew the -
1anomami fear only a females h!s%and and that this was a likely conse&!ence.
(enneth convinced 1arima to come with him to 7aracas, so she co!ld receive roer
medical care0 there, they saved her earlo%e. 3hen he convinced her to come to
/merica.
/t the time, 1arima was nine months regnant with David. 3hey fo!nd a doctor to
write a note, falsely claiming she was less far along, so that she co!ld fly.
In 6ovem%er 89=?, within a week of arriving in .ryn Dawr, 5a., 1arima went into
la%or and was anicked %y the /merican hosital: the g!rneys, the monitors, the
machines, the needles. Ance admitted, she sr!ng herself o!t of %ed and attemted to
give %irth %y s&!atting in the corner of the hosital room.
It was so !nnat!ral to her," (enneth says. #It went against everything she ever
learned."
/fter David was %orn, (enneth attemted to settle 1arima into modern /merican
domesticity, with a srinkling of cele%rity treatment: /ro!nd that time, a reorter at
5eole maga,ine ca!ght wind of their story, and in Ban!ary 89=:, (enneth and 1arima
$ who soke no <nglish, no matter $ were rofiled in a feat!re called #/n /ma,on
@ove Story: Eomance $ and a B!m%o Bet $ 3ook 1arima from the Stone /ge to
5hiladelhia."
3hen came the %ook deal, the movie otions, the wooing and flattering. #7.S wanted
to do a miniseries," (enneth says. #I said, )6o. I dont watch television. I want the %ig
screen. "
/lan /lda called and said he wanted to write, direct and star as (enneth. #I said, )Gee,
/lan, isnt that a lot for one man- " /lan 5ak!la, director of #/ll the 5residents Den,"
and #Sohies 7hoice," wanted in, too.
(enneth was feeling owerf!l. #<very%ody wanted me," (enneth says. #Im %asically at
the level of 5acino, De 6iro, Eedford. 3hen I get a call from Eichard Gere. 'e says, )I
*!st got off the lane from Sri @anka and I read yo!r 5eole maga,ine article, and I
want to get involved. I said, )What are yo! $ a rod!cer- / director-
.!t he never heard from Gere again. /lda and 5ak!la also &!it fighting over the rights,
and the movie was never made.
Deanwhile, his wife was %ecoming ever more isolated and deserate. While (enneth
was teaching, 1arima wo!ld take the F2C he left every morning and go to D!nkin
Don!ts, then the F8C store, where she never knew how m!ch she co!ld %!y. She had to
adat to wearing clothes every day and tho!ght that r!nning cars were animals on the
attack. She had no friends.
I miss my family," 1arima told 5eole maga,ine. #I want to go home." (enneth was
her translator.
Anthropologists dont know humans
In 8998, (enneth made a deal with 6ational Geograhic: 3he whole family $ which
now incl!ded da!ghter +anessa and %a%y Daniel $ wo!ld ret!rn to the /ma,on for a
doc!mentary. While there, 1arima told (enneth she wo!ld not %e going %ack to
/merica.
'e says there was no de%ate over the children.
ONCE ADMITTED 'TO THE HOSPITAL, YARIMA( SPRUNG HERSELF OUT OF
BED AND ATTEMPTED TO GIVE BIRTH BY S)UATTING IN THE CORNER OF
THE HOSPITAL ROOM.
She knew the kids wo!ldnt do well in the *!ngle," (enneth says. #She told me to take
Daniel" $ then a%o!t 8= months old. #.a%ies get sick there. 3hey die."
.oth agree, however, that (enneth never exlained to the children anything a%o!t
their mom $ who she was, where she came from, why she left.
David says that for a few years, (enneth wo!ld sit the kids in front of a video camera
and have them %eg her to come %ack.
/fter two or three years, I %egan internali,ing it as a%andonment," David says.
Sometimes I wo!ld %ring 1arima !," (enneth says. #/nd when I did $ dead silence.
I tho!ght, )Well, thats strange. "
Ance, when David was a%o!t 8C years old, his class took a field tri to the D!se!m of
6at!ral 'istory. 3hey t!rned a corner to a small tri%al exhi%it and there he saw a
%lown-! hoto of his mom, taken %y his dad, right there on the wall.
I *!st fro,e," David says. #/ll the %lood drained o!t of me. I ran to a dark corner and
hid for 8C min!tes."
'e never told his dad $ who, in t!rn, had never told David a%o!t the day he got a call
from the D!se!m of 6at!ral 'istory, looking to verify that this hoto of 1arima was
a!thentic and taken %y him.
We werent a to!chy-feely, talk-a%o!t-things kind of family," (enneth says.
David hated his mother %!t missed her, too, and he resented his father for toting him
aro!nd to events like some kind of exerimental offsring.

Ken Good and his family pictured at their home outside of Philadelphia.Photo: Getty Images
I really hated going with my dad to these conferences," he says. #I remem%er the wife
of a very rominent anthroologist $ I was 82 or 8> at the time $ asking me what I
wanted for 7hristmas. I said, )/ 6intendo ?G with S!er Dario .ros. She looked at me
in horror and said, )Ah, my God. 1o!re a tyical /merican kid. I tho!ght yo!d %e
different. 3hat really c!t me."
.y 8G, David was drinking heavily. 'e tho!ght that kids who wanted to arty wo!ld
always hang o!t with other kids who wanted to arty $ no chance of a%andonment
there. /nd the alcohol sanded down the ang!ish, if only temorarily.
I !sed to cry a%o!t my mom all the time," David says. #4s!ally %efore I %lacked o!t.
3his wo!ld %e in !%lic, in rivate. 3hen Id wake ! ashamed of myself. 3hese are
things my dad doesnt even know . . . /nthroologists st!dy h!mans, %!t they dont
know at all how to interact on a h!man level."
'is dad had a f!ndamental misreading of Davids identity crisis. #1o! know what I feel
%ad a%o!t-" (enneth says. 3hat the 1anomami are short. #Davids only ;G. I mean,
hes shorter than /l 5acino."
David fo!nd himself wondering what his moms side of the story co!ld %e. /t 2C, he
%egan reading the %ook his dad had written %ack in 8998. #3he arts where I co!ld hear
her voice $ that was hard."
/t 28, he decided to sto drinking and go visit his mom.
I want to be Yanomami
I REALLY WANT TO BE YANOMAMI, I WANT TO TREK THROUGH THE *UNGLE
LIKE THEY DO.
- D+,-% G$$%
It took David three years to raise the money for a one-way, F:CC ticket to the
/ma,on. It also took a%o!t that long for him to s!mmon the co!rage to go. 'is
si%lings dont &!ite !nderstand yet and still want nothing to do with their mother.
3hat tri was all a%o!t !ncertainty," David says. #I didnt know if she wo!ld like me,
or if I wo!ld like her, or if she wo!ld re*ect me."
'e arrived in /!g!st 2C88, the tri%e execting him. When his mother emerged, he
recogni,ed her immediately. She wore wooden shoots thro!gh her face and little
clothing, and he felt immediately that he was her son in every way.
'ed tho!ght a lot a%o!t whether to h!g her $ he wanted to, %!t he was too nervo!s,
and the 1anomami dont h!g $ so he !t his hand on her sho!lder and told her what
hed wanted to for years.
I said, )Dama, I made it,
Im home. It took so long,
%!t I made it. " 1arima
wet.
David stayed with the
tri%e for two weeks and
made a monthlong ret!rn
tri late last year. 'e
doesnt travel with anti-
snake venom %eca!se he
cant afford it, %!t he also
en*oys immersing himself in the c!lt!re he re*ected for
so long.
Dy dad tells me not to walk aro!nd %arefoot in my
!nderwear, %!t I want to," David says. When hes in the *!ngle, he eats what the tri%e
eats: gr!% worms, termites, %oa constrictors, monkeys, armadillo.
'e has contracted arasites0 gotten food oisoning0 had mos&!itoes attack all of his
nether regions, and still hes hay there.
I really want to %e 1anomami," David says. #I want to trek thro!gh the *!ngle like they
do."
'e says his mother has told him that she wants to come %ack to /merica for a visit, to
&

Dodal 3rigger
David and Yarima
Dodal 3rigger
David Good and his mother
Yarima in the Yanomami Territory
in Venezuela.
see the rest of her family.
Its not like theres clos!re," David says. #Were at the %eginning of o!r story, in so
many ways."