MOJO INDIANS IN BOLIVIA

17,000 MOJO INDIANS LIVE IN SOUTH CENTRAL BENI. 5,000 SPEAK MOJO, AN ARAWAKEN LANGUAGE. THE SPANISH MET THEM IN 1580. THEY HAD LARGE AGRICULTURAL FIELDS. THEY FOUGHT TWO ATTEMPTS TO TO CONQUER THEM IN THE EARLY 17TH CENTURY. THEY WERE CAPTURED BY SLAVE RAIDERS. BY THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES THEY WERE FORCED TO WORK AS RUBBER TAPPERS AND WORKED AS SERVANTS. THEY BECAME DISPERSED AND KNOW ARE SCATTERED WIDELY.

BY THE 1950'S THEY NOW LIVE PRIVATELY AS SUBSISTENCE FARMERS RAISE MANIOC, BANANAS AND SWEAT POTATOE, MAIZE AND SELL A SMALL SURPLUS OF THESE CROPS. THEY ARE SUCCESSFUL, HUNTERS, FISHERS, AND AGRICULTURE. IN THE PLAINS GROUPS OF MEN HUNT WITH DOGS TO COLLECT DEER. IN THE RAINY SEASONTHEY WOULD CLUB THE ANIMALS IN BOATS. THEY HUNTED DUCKS AFTER A DRINKING BOUT. THEIR CLOTHES WERE MADE FROM THE BARK OF TREES.

THEY MADE POTTERY WITH SPONGE ASHES. THE POWER OF THE CHIEF WAS INFORMAL. THE CHIEFS WERE SHAMANS. THEIR POWER WAS GREATER DURING THE WAR AND WHILE HUNTING. THESE ACTIVITIES REQUIRED STRICT OBEDIENCE.

MOJO MARRIAGES WERE FRAGILE WITH NO CEREMONIES. JUAGUARS WERE THE OBJECT OF CULT WORSHIP. MEN WHO WERE INJURED BY JAGUAR WERE SHAMANS.

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