CUBEO CULTURE IN BRAZIL

THERE ARE ABOUT 7000 CUBEO SPEAKERS. THEY LIVE NEAR COLUMBIA NEAR THE AMAZON AMAZON RIVER. THEIR VILLAGES ARE ALONG THIS RIVER. THEIR IS NO INVESTIGATIONS OF THE VAUPE AREA. BY THE MID 17TH CENTURY THE FIRST MISSION VILLAGES WERE BUILT. THESE EXPLORERS RIO NEGRO AND PEREZ DE QUESADA WANTED ECONOMIC CONTROL OVER THE AREA. THEN SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE HAD SETTLEMENTS ON THE BORDER. AT THE END OF THE CENTURY THE COBEO HAD ANIMAL FARMS, AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION, MANUFACTURING, AND HACIENDAS, AND HANDICRAFTS. THERE CENTERS OF COMMERCE WERE MANY.

THE CUBEO WERE ABUSED BY THE MISSIONARIES AND MANIFESTED THEIR DISCONTENT BY MISS IONIC MOVEMENTS. BY LATE 1900'S THE CUBEO WERE SUBJECTED TO SUBHUMAN CONDITIONS, AS OUTSIDERS CAME TO EXTRACT RUBBER , BALEITA, CHICHLE, COCAINE AND GOLD. THE CUBEO REJECTED THE MISSIONARIES. PART OF THE CUBEO LAND HAS BEEN LEGALIZED AND GIVEN TO THE INDIANS. THEY NOW HAVE HEALTH AND EDUCATION SYSTEMS AND OTHER ENTERPRIZES. THEY TRADE WITH OTHER NEIGHBORING GROUPS DURING RECENT TIMES. THEY HAVE TIGHT LINKS TO ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE WITH THE BAMIVA AND ARAWAKEN SPEAKING GROUPS. THEIR SETTLEMENT ON THE VAWES RIVER HAS DEVELOPED THEIR SOCIETY IN A MORE DRAMATIC FORM THAN OTHER GROUPS.

THESE PEOPLE SPEAK TUKANO AND MAKE BARK CLOTH MASKS AND DOLLS. THEY WEAR THE MASKS DURING A MOURNING CEREMONY. THIS IS A COMPLEX CEREMONY CEREMONY . IT CAN LAST AT LEAST FOUR DAYS AND HAS 50 RITUAL EVENTS. IT TRANSLATES GRIEF WITH JOY. THEY MAKE KNEE LENGTH MASKS FROM WHITE BARK CLOTH AND PAINT ED THENRED WITH VEGETABLE DYES. THEY ARE WORN BY MALES. THEY REPRESENT INSECTS, OGRES, FOREST SPIRITS. SHAMANISM IS A COMPONENT OF THE CUBEO. THEY BELIEVE THE MASKS CONTAIN THE FULL SACRED POWER OF THE FULL SPIRIT DEPICTED.

NATIVE-LANGUAGES.