URANIAN INDIANS IN PERU

URARINA INDIAN LANGUAGE OF SOUTH AMERICA IS SPOKEN BY 3000 PEOPLE IN NORTHWESTERN PERU. URANIAN IS A LANGUAGE NOT KNOWN TO BE RELATED TO ANY OTHER LANGUAGE. THESE LANGUAGES ARE NOT KNOWN TO BE RELATED TO ANY OTHER LANGUAGE.

THE URARINA ARE INDIGENOUS OF THE PERUVIAN AMAZON BASIN BASED ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA. THEY LIVED IN CAMBRIA. THEY CALL THEM DOWNSTREAM PEOPLE. THEIR SOCIETY IS CALLED KATCHA OR DOWNSTREAM PEOPLE. THEIR SOCIETY HAS RECEIVED EXCEPTIONALLY LITTLE ATTENTION IN THE LITERATURE. THEY ARE CULTURALLY VIBRANT SEMI- MOBIL HUNTERS AND HORTICULTURALISTS WITH A POPULATION OF 2000. THEIR HOUSES HAVE MANY LONGHOUSE GROUPS. THEY LIVE ON HIGH GROUND ALONG THE FLOOD FREE MARGINS. THEY ARE COMMONLY FLOODED IN WINTER SEASON. THE MEN PRACTICE POLYGAMY. THEY ARE GOOD HUNTERS. THE URARINA HAVE A DELUGE - MYTH IN WHICH A MAN SAVED HIMSELF FROM THE DELUGE WHILE CLIMBING A CUDI TREE WHILE TWO SONS BECAME BIRDS. HE SOON HAD A WIFE. SHE SUMMONED A PIT VIPER IN AN ATTEMPT TO EVADE HIM. THEY HAVE ONGOING SURVIVAL CHALLENGES, INADEQUATE HEALTH CARE, AND CULTURAL PROBLEMS. THEY ARE INSPIRED BY OTHER TRIBES.
THEY REMAIN THE LARGEST UNTITLED AMAZONS IN PERU. WHO ARE FAIRLY ISOLATED. BUT THEY HAVE BEEN VISITED BY COLONISTS, LOGGERS, RIVER TRADERS, DRUG VOYERERS, TOURISTS - ALL WHO HAVE BROUGHT DISEASES THAT THREATENED THEIR WAY OF LIFE.

THEY LIVE IN AN AREA WITH SIGNIFICANT OIL RESERVES. THREE OIL COMPANIES BEGAN DRILLING BEGAN DRILLING FROM THE CAMBRIA OIL RESERVE. THERE OLDEST COMMUNITY REMOVED FROM THIS AREA BECAUSE OF THIS ACTIVITY. THE OIL FIELDS ARE OWNED BY THE PETROPERU, A NATIONAL OIL COMPANY, BUT THE RIGHTS WERE TRANSFERRED TO THE ENTERPRISE OIL COMPANY OF ENGLAND IN 1996. IN 1997 ANOTHER OIL COMPANY EXPLORED FOR OIL BUT DID NOT FIND MUCH.

BEFORE THEY STRUCK OIL THEY HAD AN ECOLOGICAL DISASTER IN 1997. IN 1997 THE STEEL BOTTOM OF A BARGE BRINGING OIL WAS PUNCTURED BY A HUGE TREE, CAUSING OIL CONTAMINATION OF THE ENTIRE CAMBRIA RIVER DOWNSTREAM. THE BARGE WAS TOWED UPSTREAM. THEY ATTEMPTED TO CONTROL THE LEAK. THE FISHERS COMPLAINED THAT THE FISH IN THIS RIVER WERE SWIMMING INTO ANOTHER RIVER. THE AMAZON RIVER DOLPHINS WERE THAT WERE ABUNDANT HAVE SINCE BEEN SCARCE. THE CHAMBIRA RIVER IS A NARROW RIVER ONLY 90 ' WIDE. THERE HAVE BEEN NO STUDIES SINCE THIS DISASTER.

OIL DRILLING TEAMS STILL SPREAD NEW DISEASES INTO THIS TERRITORY , INCLUDING A DRUG RESISTANT EPIDEMIC AND WHOOPING COUGH. THE OIL EXPLORATION HAS RESULTED IN HEALTH IMPACTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION. IF IT CONTINUES AT THIS PACE THE EFFECTS ON THE URARINA WILL BE IRREVERSIBLE.

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