BANIVA INDIANS

BANIVA LANGUAGE THAT HAS BEEN USED SINCE EARLY COLONIAL TIMES AND PROBABLY BEFORE. THEY REFERRED TO THE ARAWAKEN SPEAKERS OF THE RIO ICANA IN THE NW AMAZON. THEY HAVE 5 DIALECT GROUPS. THEIR NEIGHBORS ARE WAKILENAI AND THEY REFER TO THEM BY JAGUAR PEOPLE.

SINCE ABORIGINAL TIMES THEY HAVE LIVED IN THIS REGION OF BRAZIL AND VENEZUELA. IN 1985THEIR POPULATION WAS 5375 IN COLUMBIA.

FROM 3500 BP NORTHERN MAIPURE SPEAKERS OCCUPIED THE RIO NEGROW WHERE THEY HAD NOMADIC MAKU PEOPLES. BY THE TIME OF THE FIRST EUROPEANS IN 1850'S THESE TRIBES HAD MANY NEIGHBORS. THEY CONTINUOUSLY HAD SHIFTING PATTERNS OF WAR AND ALLIANCE. THE PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH SLAVE TRADE PENETRATED THEM AND GAVE THEM INTER TRIBAL WARFARE. AND SEVERAL TRIBES DEPOPULATED. BY 1755 THE SLAVERY TRADE WAS ENDED. DISEASES AND UNSTABLE CONDITIONS MANY TO RETURN TO HOMELAND AREAS.

BY THE EARLY 1`9TH CENTURY BRAZILIAN AND VENEZUELAN TRADERS BEGAN WORKING ON IN THE AREA AND EXPLOITED INDIAN LABORERS. THIS RESULTED IN RESISTANCE BY INDIAN PHOTOS. KAMIKO WHOSE INFLUENCE LASTED FOR NEARLY 10 YEARS AND EXTENDED TO OTHER TRIBES.

BY 1870'S THE RUBBER BOOM REACHED THE UPPER RIO NEGRO INTENSIFYING. EXPLOITATION OF WAKUENAAII LABOR. THE BANIVA AND WAKUENA LIVING IN TERROR. MORE ANGLOS CAME TO GOLD PAN.

THEIR MARRIAGES ARE USUALLY ARRANGED BY THEIR PARENTS. COMMUNITIES INCLUDE DISTINCT RELATIVES. MOST MARRIAGES ARE STABLE THROUGHOUT A LIFETIME. THEY DO NOT HAVE A SYSTEM OF PRIVATE PROPERTY THAT ARE REGULATED. THEY REGARD THEIR ELDERS AS PART OF A NUCLEAR FAMILY AND MAY LIVE WITH ONE OF THEIR MARRIED CHILDREN. GIRLS HELP THEIR MOM'S WITH GARDENING AND DOMESTIC AND BOYS FORM PLAY PACKAGES ENGAGING IN MALE PURSUITS AS HUNTING AND FISHING. GRANDPARENTS DISCIPLINE . THE CHILDREN HAVE INTENSIVE INITIATION RITES AND THEY ARE TAUGHT LAWS OF THEIR ANCESTORS, SOCIAL LIVING, AVOIDANCE OF VIOLENCE . MISSIONARY FOLKS HAVE INTOLERANCE OF THEIR RITUALS..

THEIR ANCESTRAL BELIEFS WERE BASED ON CREATIVE BELIEFS BASED ON BASED ON CREATIVE AND GENERATIVE RELATIONS AMONG HUMANS, ANIMALS, AND THE SPIRIT WORLD. THE SHAMANS MEDIATE BETWEEN HUMANS AND THE DEITIES. AND THEY USE THE POWERS OF THE HIGHEST DEITIES.

THE CREATED THE WORLD THROUGH CATACLYSMIC DESTRUCTION AND RENEWAL. THEY HAVE MANY ELABORATE MYTHS. THE CREATOR'S SON IS AN EXTRAORDINARY HUMAN WHOSE BODY IS OF ALL THINGS. HE GAVE SACRED KNOWLEDGE TO THEIR WORLD. HAS 10 TIERS OF HEAVEN, EARTH, AND BELOW THE EARTH. THESE TALES HAVE BEEN TOLD FOR MILLENIA. CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES HAVE MODIFIED THEIR BELIEFS AND REINFORCED THEIRS.

TRADITIONALLY SHAMANS WERE KEY TO FIGURES IN IN BANIVA CULTURE. THEY ARE HIERARCHICALLY DIFFERENT BY LEVELS OF KNOWLEDGE AND CAPACITY. THERE IS A CLASS SPECIALISTS SPELL OWNERS WHO PERFORM SPELLS AND BLOWING AT RITES OF PASSAGE. THE THIRD SPECIAAL FIGURE IS A RITUAL DANCER WHO LEADS CEREMONIAL DANCES AND SONGS IN VARIOUS FESTIVITIES. ELDERS PERFORM SOME DANCE LINES AND THEY HAVE SONGS.

CEREMONIAL SINGING, TELLIING OF STORIES, BODY PAINTING, PLAYING INSTRUMENTS AND IN PREHISTORIC TIMES PETROGLYPH MAKING WERE IMPORTANT ART FORMS. TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IS BASED ON HERBAL REMEDIES. BY SHAMANS. AND SPELL OWNERS. SOME MISSIONARIES HAVE INSISTED ON USING TRADITIONAL MEDICINE.

SERIOUS ILLNESS AND DEATH ARE THOUGHT OF AS A RESULT OF SORCERY OR RITUAL RESTRICTIONS. AT DEATH TWO PARTS OF A PERSON'S SOUL IS SEPARATE., THE COLLECTIVE SOULS BECOMES INTEGRAQTED TO ANCESTRAL HOUSEES OF ANIMAL SOULS. THE HUMAN BODY PASSES THROUGH A DARK NETHER WORLD. AND IS PURIFIED BY FIRE AND JOURNEYS TO THE TO THE CELESTIAL PARADISE OF THE CREATOR. SIMILAR RITES OCCUR WITH ANIMALS AND BIRD SPECIES.

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