Figure 1.--Here we see aNative American boy from the Amazon basin in Brazil with his face painted. |
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Besides the Inca, there were many other Native American tribes in South America. Many were centered in the Andes or along the narrow coastal plain to the west of the Andes. he Inca highly civilized. The Inca conquered many of the tribes in or along the Andes from Colombia south to Chile. There were also tribes to the east of the Andes. The primitive tribes in the Amazon still exist, although there numbers are now very small.
The Inca until the early 15th century were but one of a large number of tribes situated in the Andes and narrow coastal plain from Chile north to Colombia. The tribes shared many common cultural cahracteristoics. The Inca were possessed with a messianic creed which taught that they were destined to dominate the world. They proceeded to conquer and assimilate neighboring tribes in southern Peru around Lake Titicaca. at the beginning of the 15th entury the Inca was just one of large number of Andean and costal tribes. Then there was an amazing explosioin out of their mountain domain and within 100 years carved out an emense empire. Theh absorbed conquered peoples relatively beningly as long as thy accepted the Inca Sun God. The Inca had a genius for public administration, enineering, as well as military strategy. One of their mostal notable inovations was the construction of a road network allowing the rapid movement of armies. Runners operating rather like pony express riders moved messages with great rapidity from th most remote imperial outposts to the capital at Cuzco. Eventually this network streached the length of South America from cebtral Chile to southern Colombia--over 2,500 miles. Terraces were carved out of steep mountains, creating cultivateable land. These teraces were notable engineering achievements. The Inca were master weavers. The nobility wore garments woven from vicuńa. The common people wore garments wove from the more course llama wool.
One ongoing mystery is that Spanish sources report a very substantial population in the Amazon basin during the 16th century. Francisco de Orellana set out on a quest for gold and soon found himself just trying to survive. He was the first European to travel the entire length of the Amazon and he reported a huge population of very profuctive farmers. Historians at first dismissed the Spanish account as fanciful. Modern anthropolgists have begun to reassess this judgement. Some believe there indeed once was a very large population in the Amazon basin practing sophisticated agriculture.
A Amazon tribe is the Enawene-Nawe. A few primitive tribes survive in remote Amazonian areas. They are very small tribal groups. One such group is the Enawene-Nawe. The Enawene-Nawe are found in the Mato Grosso State of Brazil. They live along the Rio Preto and now consist of only about 400 individuals. So the tribe is in danger of extinction. They subsist through fishing, gathering, and gardening. They live in large communal houses called malocas. The Enawene Nawe are particularly noted for their fishing skills
The Shuar people are the second largest and one of the best-known Amazonian Native American tribal groups. They have an extensive history of struggle against outsiders, beginning even before the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores. As a result, they have been labeled headhunters and savages. Theie homeland is southeastern Ecuador between the Pastaza and Marańón Rivers. This is directly over the mountains from the beautiful colonial city of Cuenca. The area has been fought over by Ecuador and Peru. The location has to some extent protected the Shuar from outsiders. The escarpment of the Andes presented a barrier to the west and unnavigable rapids to the east. The word Shuar as is the case of many Amazonian people means "people". The moreccommon name in Ecuador has been Jívaro or Jibaro. The Shar do not like the term because it is foreign and in Ecuador has a strong association with head hunting. Salesian missionaries assisted the Shuar to found the first ethnic federation in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Many Shuar have assimilated and now wear Western clothing. An example is an unidentified Ecuadorian boy.
The Aparai and Wayana tribes are often grouped together. They themselves describe distinct origins. The Aparai live along the south bank of the Amazon River. Their origins lay in the area around the lower and middle courses of Amazon tributaries (Curuá, Maicuru, Jari and East Paru rivers). The Wayana have for an extended period lived around the upper and middle course of the East Paru River and its tributaries (the Citaré, the upper Jarí River along with the Litani, Paloemeu rivers and smaller tributaries). The Aparai and Wayana live in three territorial groups spread around the counjuncture of Brazil, French Guina, and Suriname. This is the northeastern Amazon Basin around the East Paru River (Brazil), the Marouni River (French Guiana), and the Tapanahoni River (Surinam). The Aparai live primarily in Brazilian, The Wayana live mostly in French Guiana and Suriname. While physically separated, there is still interactions between the three groups involving both kinship relations and trade.
The Yanomamo (Yah-no-mah-muh) also called Yanomami, and Yanomama, are deep jungle Indians living in the Amazon basin in both Venezuela and Brazil. They are about 11,000 people.
The Yanomami are believed to be the most primitive, culturally intact people in existence in the world. They are literally a stone age tribe. Cataloged by anthropologists as Neo-Indians with cultural characteristics that date back more than 8000 years. They have never discovered the wheel and the only metal they use is what has been traded to them from the outside. Their numbering system is one, two, and more than two. They are hunters and gatherers who also tend small garden plots. They are one of the most successful groups in the Amazon rain forest to gain a superior balance and harmony with their environment.
Traditionally, a Yanomamo village is a relatively temporary wood and thatch house called a shabono. The shabono is circular in shape and surrounds a central open space. Each family has their own area within the shabono. As with many other native Americans of tropical South America, the Yanomamo traditionally wear minimal or no clothing.
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