YANOMAMI AMERINDIANS, VENEZUELAN AMAZONAS. Serra Parima, Orinoco River Basin Yanomami village. Families live in large communal homesteads. Each family has its own hearth where members eat, sleep and store belongings. Hammocks are strung one above the other like bunks with the youngest children at the bottom. Of all Amerindian tribes, the Yanomami have the least exposure to the modern world. Their future may now be threatened by diseases spread by illegal gold miners.