YUKPA INDIAN IN VENEZUALA

YUKPA MEANS TAME PEOPLE. THEY HAVE MANY PEOPLE IN SUBGROUPS. THEY LIVE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF COLUMBIA AND VENEZUELA. THEIR POPULATION IS ABOUT 3400 FOLKS. FORTY NINE COMMUNITIES ARE IN THEIR REGION. THEY SPEAK A CARRIBEAN LANGUAGE.

SINCE PREHISTORIC TIMES THE YUKPA HAVE INHIBITED THE SIERRAS DE PERU. ANCESTORS OF THE YUKPA SIERRA FORMED A CARIB MIGRATION NORTH OF SOUTH AMERICA AND THIS DATE MAY HAVE BEEN ABOUT 4500 B.P. SOME RESEARCHERS BELIEVE THAT THE YUKPA DO NOT EXCEED. THEY REACHED HOMELAND BY 1000 B.P.

THEY HAVE FOLK TALES ABOUT HOW THEY ENCOUNTERED AND DEFEATED THE WANAPAS, THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE MOUNTAINS. IN EARLY 1500'S WESTERNERS CONTACTED THEM. THEY WERE LOOKING FOR THE FABLED CITY OF GOOD. THE YUKPA MOVED INTO THE MOUNTAINS. MISSIONARY EFFORTS WERE NOT VERY SUCCESSFUL. BY THE 1900'S THEY WERE IN A CONTINUOUS CONTACT WITH SETTLERS. UNDER THE MISSIONARY'S INFLUENCE THEY MOVED SETTLEMENTS CLOSER TO ROLLING HILLS AND MOUNTAINS.. IN THE LAST THIRTY OR FORTY YEARS THEY HAVE HAD SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THEIR SETTLEMENT PATTERN. SOME HAVE MOVED TO THE HAMLETS OF 2 TO 3 HOUSES AND LARGER COMM UNITES OF 20 HOUSES. MANY MEN AND WOMEN WORK OUTSIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS ON LARGE DAIRY RANCHES. HERE THEY STAY FOR WEEKS BEFORE RETURNING TO THEIR FAMILIES. MANY MEN AND WOMEN WORK OUTSIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS.

THEY WERE AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURE ATTENDANTS AND PLANTED MAIZE AND BEANS AND SQUASHES THAT ADDED TO THE EXISTING CROPS. THEY USE SLASH AND BURN AND BURN AND HAVE ADDED COFFEE FOR SALE IN LOCAL MARKETS. TODAY THEY RELY ON HUNTING, GATHERING AND FISHING. BECAUSE RESOURCES ARE DEPLETING. TRADITIONALLY THEY DID LITTLE TRADING.

BOTH MEN AND WOMEN DO AGRICULTURE MEN DO HEAVIER LABOR AND WOMEN DO AGRICULTURE. THE MEN DO HEAVIER LABOR AND WOMEN DO MORE FOOD PREPARATION. WOMEN WORK IN HARVESTING AND WEEDING. SOME WOMEN ARE DOMESTIC SERVANTS. THE MEN BECOME CATTLE HERDERS AND MILK FOR LOCAL DAIRY FARMERS.

THE PATTERN OF LAND TENURE IS BASED ON THE RESULT OF GENERATIONS OF PASSING OWNERSHIP. BOTH MEN AND WOMEN MAT OWN LAND. THEY HAVE ZONA INDIGENA THAT IS RESERVED FOR THE SOLE USE OF
INHABITANTS. MUCH OF THE REMAINDER OF THE SIERRA IS A NATIONAL PARK. ELDERS PLAY A LARGE ROLE IN CHILD RAISING AND STORY TELLING.

THEIR RELIGION WAS ANIMISTIC IN NATURE. SUPERNATURAL POWERS WERE IN PLANTS AND THE ANIMAL WORLD. THEIR CREATOR HELPED ANIMALS TO CREATE THE FIRST COUPLE. ALL YUKPA ARE FROM THIS COUPLE. MYTHIC ANIMALS ARE RESPONSIBLE FROM THIS FOR THEY THOUGHT THE WORLD WAS 2 FLAT DISKS THAT CIRCLED TWO SUNS.

THEY BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE DWARFS IN THE UNDERGROUND, BY 1950 CATHOLICISM BEGAN TO INTEGRATE INTO THEIR RELIGION . BY 1990 ALMOST ALL YUKPA ARE OUTSIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS, BUT THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND THE RELIGION.

IN A FEW TRADITIONAL YUKPA SETTLEMENTS THERE ARE SHAMANS WHO GUIDE COMMUNITIES THROUGH IMPORTANT RITUALS. THEIR CEREMONIES MARK LIFE CHANGES - BIRTH, PUBERTY, MARRIAGE AND DEATH. DURING THEIR CEREMONIES THEY SING SPECIFIC SONGS AND LEAD DANCES. THEIR RELIGION IS IMPORTANT TO THEM. THEIR SONGS ARE IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX. THEY HAVE TATTOOS ON FACE AND ARM. THEY WEAVE SIMPLE DESIGNS INTO THEIR BASKETS.

SICKNESS IS EXPLAINED BY REFERENCE TO THE SUPERNATURAL. PEOPLE WITH MEDICINAL PLANTS ARE KNOWN AS TUANOS. THESE SHAMANS HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICINAL PLANT REMEDIES. AND THROUGH METAPHYSICAL CONTROLS SHAMANS CAN EFFECT REMEDIES.

AFTER DEATH THEY BURY PEOPLE IN A BURIAL HUT ALONG WITH SOME POSSESSIONS. THEY REACH THE AFTERWORLD AND ARE GUIDED BY KOPECHO, THE MYTHICAL FROG.

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