What Daniel Everett has said about Pirahã people

Everett reports that the Pirahã have no concept of spirits or God and that earlier reports of spirits were a projection of his Christian mind.

“But that was a contamination of my Christian mind”

Danny Jones Podcast: #439 - Bible Expert Rejects Religion After Decoding Ancient Amazon Language | Daniel Everett (Oct 12, 2026) · Listen from 1:29:13

Everett reports that introduced sugar caused cavities and obesity among the Pirahã, who previously had no cavities.

“Nobody had a cavity. A couple of years later, the Brazilian government or somebody else introduced sugar cane into their fields. And now everybody has cavities”

Danny Jones Podcast: #439 - Bible Expert Rejects Religion After Decoding Ancient Amazon Language | Daniel Everett (Oct 12, 2026) · Listen from 2:06:52

Everett says dams lowering river levels have caused the Pirahã to face hunger for the first time in their history.

“they were facing hunger for the first time in their history because of dams that were causing the river to get too low and the fish were leaving”

Danny Jones Podcast: #439 - Bible Expert Rejects Religion After Decoding Ancient Amazon Language | Daniel Everett (Oct 12, 2026) · Listen from 2:42:39