TICUNA INDIANS IN PERU

TICUNA INDIANS IS AN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE SPOKEN BY 40,000 FOLKS. THE NAME TICUNA MEANS "MEN PAINTED IN BLACK". THE TICUNA PAINTED THEIR BODIES BLACK WITH GENIPAPO JUICE. THEY LIVE ON TRIBUTARIES ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE THE AMAZON RIVER.THEIR TRIBE IS LOCATED IN PERU, COLUMBIA, AND BRAZIL. THEY HAVE 16,000 PEOPLE IN BRAZIL, WITH ABOUT 6000 IN COLUMBIA ACCORDING TO CREATION MYTH. THE TICUNA ORIGINATED IN THE EWARE NEAR THE COLUMBIAN BRAZIL BORDER. THEIR ENEMIES WERE THE OMEGUA.

ONCE EUROPEANS ARRIVED THE OMAGUA WERE DECIMATED BY WARS AND EPIDEMICS. BETWEEN 1864 AND 1870 BRAZIL WAS NOT AT WAR WITH PARAGUAY. THE TICUNA INVOLVEMENT DECREASED THEIR POPULATION. IN EARLY 1890'S THE RUBBER TAPPERS BEGAN AND THE TICUNA WERE LABORERS FOR THEM. THE TICUNA IN BRAZIL WERE FORCED TO RELOCATE. IN THE 1930'S PERU AND COLUMBIA BECAME INVOLVED IN A WAR THE TICUNA EMIGRATED TO THE RIGHT BANK OF OF THE AMAZON.

A SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT IN THE 1950'S WAS THE EXPORT OF HIDES AND ANIMALS. THE CHURCH WAS BUILT AND THEY BUILT SCHOOLS IN THE AREA. IN THE 1970'S THE CHURCH IS EDUCATING THE INDIANS. TWO TRENDS AFFECTED THE TICUNA THEIR POPULATION INCREASED AND THEIR FAMILIES WERE CONCENTRATED IN VILLAGES ALONG THE AMAZON.

THEY PREVIOUSLY LIVED IN COMMUNAL HOUSES REMOVED FROM EACH OTHER, ON LAND IN THE JUNGLE ABOVE THE FLOOD PLAIN.. CEREMONIES WERE HELD THE CENTRAL SECTION. CEREMONIES WERE HELD IN THE CENTRAL SECTION. THEY USED FOOT TRAILS BETWEEN HOUSES. RIVER NAVIGATION WAS NOT SIGNIFICANT. LATER COMMUNAL HOUSES WERE REPLACED BY THE RECTANGULAR HOUSES WITH TWO SIDED AND NO NEW WALLS. ONLY NUCLEAR FAMILIES WERE IN THEIR HOUSES. THE CHANGE IN SETTLEMENT FROM TERRA FIRME AND THE SUBSTITUTION OF ONE FAMILY HOUSES, TRANSFORMED THEIR LIFE. THEY HAVE KNOW LEARNED HOW TO MAKE GOOD CANOES AND HAVE NEW TECHNIQUES FOR FISHING. CONTACT WITH THE ANGLOS INTENSIFIED IN THE 60'S AND THEY ADOPTED A DIFFERENT SETTLEMENT PATTERN, THE ANGLOS BROUGHT BROUGHT CATTLE RANCHES WHICH DECREASED LAND FOR HUNTING AND CULTIVATION FOR THE TICUNA. TODAY THEY LIVE IN VILLAGES. THEIR HOUSES HAVE 2 SPECIES. - A LIVING QUARTERS AND THE KITCHEN. THE TICUNA SLEEP UNDER MOSQUITO NETS. THEY PLACE BOARDS OVER THE TRANSVERSE ROOF BEAMS WHERE CHILDREN CAN SLEEP. THEIR ANCIENT RELIGION TEACHES THAT THE WORLD IS CONTROLLED BY SPIRITS AND FORCES THAT DETERMINE THE COURSE OF EVENTS. BOTH PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH MISSIONARIES BEGAN THEIR WORK DURING THE FIRST CENTURIES OF DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST , SO THE MAJORITY OF TICUNA ARE NOW CATHOLIC SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURIES. THERE HAVE BEEN VARIOUS MASONIC MOVEMENTS. TA'E IS THE DIVINITY WHO INHABITS THE WORLD ABOVE. HE GIVES THE TICUNA THEIR SOULS AND LIVES IN THE WORLD ABOVE. THEIR MOST IMPORTANT MYTHOLOGICAL BEINGS ARE THE YOI AND IPI. THESE BROTHERS FACE THE DEMONS OF THE THE INTERMEDIATE WORLD AND THE WORLD BELOW. IN THE PAST THERE WERE MANY MORE SHAMANS THAN THERE ARE TODAY AND THEY WERE BELIEVED TO BE MORE POWERFUL THAN THEIR CONTEMPORARY COUNTERPARTS. MAGICAL POWER IS DERIVED FROM THE SHAMANS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SPIRITS OF CERTAIN TREES. CURING IS DONE BY MEANS OF SUCKING AND TOBACCO SMOKING. SOME SHAMANS ALSO CAUSE HARM BY EMITTING INVISIBLE THORNS.

NATIVELANGUAGES.ORG