Amazon tribes

Tarta Elena Alexandra

Picture of the interior of a traditional Amazon tribe maloka or longhouse in the South American Amazon jungle.   The maloka is a communal house in which up to one hundred people traditionally live.  Malokas can be divided into various rooms with palm mat walls.  Each room of the Amazon tribe maloka has horizontal poles from which the residents can hang hammocks.  A man with one or two wives will commonly hang his hammock in the center of one of the rooms of the maloka, with a wife on either side.  The placement of their children's hammocks range outward from the parents in order of age.  If a man has an older third wife,  she might be in the next room of the maloka with her grown sons.  Generally, there are several benches located near the entrance of an Amazon tribe maloka where the women work using the daylight that enters the maloka through the entrance.

HOMES!

A potentially devastating outbreak of swine flu among the Yanomami Indians in Venezuela's Amazon rainforest appears to be contained after a rapid medical response in the isolated zone.Considered to be the largest isolated Amazon tribe, with a population of about 30,000, the semi-nomadic Yanomami had limited contact with the outside world until 50 years ago.Since the 1960s, the Yanomami population has been hard hit by illnesses brought by gold miners and other outsiders.The deaths of six Yanomami are being investigated for possible links to the H1N1 virus. But Neris Villalobos, chief epidemiologist for the state of Amazonas, said the initial outbreak peaked at the end of October and was waning.Possibly spread by outsiders at a government-organized event last month, flu symptoms showed up in more than 1,000 Yanomami, local health officials said. The number of new cases has declined sharply since then.

Population!

South America´s rainforest is, for many, a real vacation highlight. Most people associate South America´s rainforest with Brazil´s tropical Amazon rainforest, which is the largest expanse of rainforest in the continent. However, excellent rainforest tours are also possible in a range of other Latin American countries including Ecuador, Peru, Guyana, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Belize. If taking a rainforest tour, utmost consideration should be given to the fragile natural environment that you are visiting. If at all possible, try to book a jungle lodge that has a clear responsible tourism policy. Ideally, your visit to the rainforest should actively contribute towards it´s conservation.

Tropical forests!

Wild palm!

Picture of Indian girls preparing native chambira, a wild palm (Astrocaryum chambira) that is used for its fiber.  This native palm tree provides the fiber most commonly used by Indian girls to weave.  The newer leaves of the native chambira are used and are harvested either by climbing a tree next to the spiny palm or by cutting the palm tree down.  Typically, Indian men harvest the chambira palm leaves and the Indian girls carries it back home.   She peels off the top layer of the palm leaves and puts the fiber in the sun in order to dry.  After the fiber is dry, Indian girls roll the native chambira fiber along her thigh to make a twine.  The twine, which is quite strong, is then used to weave  hammocks, wrist ornaments ("pulseras"), tote bags, fishing line, and sometimes articles of clothing.  

 

Tribal girls!

The Amazon tribe girl illustrated in this picture has female body painting on her face.  The red color comes from a native tree (Bixa orellana) and is called "achiote"  or "urucum."  Female  body painting is one of the oldest art forms and is still practiced by many Amazon tribe girls and women.   Reasons for tribe girlas to paint themse lves vary from frightening enemies and evil spirits, to celebrations, to mking magic, to disguise themselves, and of course to beautify themselves.   Nudity is not a taboo for Amazon tribe girls as it is for most westerners, hence the prevalence of female body painting among Amazonian tribes. 

Monkey Lanos

Photograph of an indigenous woman nursing a Woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha) in the Amazon rain forest.  Curiously, it is not uncommon for indigenous women  in the Amazon to breastfeed a young monkey whose mother has died.  Often during hunting, the mother will be killed leaving behind her young.  Indigenous Amazonians often adopt the young monkey as a pet, hence the women breastfeeding the monkey in the above picture. 

With the feeding of the tribe?

Photo of a Woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha) being prepared by Amazonian Indians of the Amazon River Basin.  In order to prepare the meat for consumption, first the fur is removed by searing it over an open fire.  Later the meat is slowly smoked over a period of days in order to prevent insects from contaminating it with their larvae and to preserve it.  Note the bright blue macaw feathers to the left of the Woolly monkey that are being used to as a fan in order to maintain the fire.  Feather fans are traditionally used by many tribes of  indigenous Amazonian Indians to fan campfires. 

Tribe menTribe men

Picture of Huaorani tribe men (sometimes spelled Waorani) with spears in front of a traditional Huaorani maloka located in the Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador.  The men in this Amazon tribe still hunt for food traditionally with blowguns and darts tipped with curare poison.  As recently as 1994, they were actively engaged in warfare and are renown for using spears with barbs that make them difficult to remove.  The barbed spears of the Huaorani are made from the wood of the Peach-palm (Bactris gasipaes) and sharpened on both ends.  The Huaorani warrior mode of attack is to wait for a moonless night and then go in the middle of the night and attack their adversaries while they are sleeping.

 

The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) is a large and colorful parrot that is native to the humid lowland rain forests of

the American tropics, especially the Peruvian, Colombian, Ecuadorian and Brazilian Amazon jungle.  The Scarlet

Macaw is long-lived with a life-span of up to 75 years and is a common pet of Amazonian Indians.  Interestingly, the upper sides of their flight feathers are a dark blue while the under sides of their flight feathers are a deep red

color.  Amazonian Indians often use the macaw feathers as fletchings on their arrows.  Typically, these indigenous people of the Amazonian rain forest do not kill the birds to use their feathers for arrows, instead they merely harvest the feathers and allow the bird to live.  To kill the macaw would offend the animal spirits and could cause bad luck

while hunting with arrows made from their feathers.  Although Scarlet Macaws are not officially endangered,

their populations have been decreasing due to the destruction of their Amazon rain forest habitat through

deforestation. 

Ara macao!

Photograph of two Amazon tribal warriors facing each other with spears in their hands in the Amazon jungle. Note the long hair and preforated earlobes. The appearance of various Amazon tribes depends on their culture. For example, the tribe pictured above, have elongated earlobes that are characteristic of their tribe. Many other tribes used characteristic tattoos to identify themselves, examples being the Mundurucú, Matis, Matses, Marubo, and Mayoruna tribes. In particular, the Mundurucú were once the most feared headhunters in all of the Amazonia are were probably the most heavily tattooed of all indigenous Amazon tribes living in South America.

Tribal warriors