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Tikuna, Ticuna
The men in Black
Location: Colombia, Peru, Brazil
Language: Tikuna
Population: approximately 60,000 inhabitants
They live in the northwest of the Amazon, between
the countries of Colombia, Peru and Brazil. Its main
activities are fishing, hunting and planting food
in chagras assigned to each family. Previously
they lived in communal houses, but today these
communities are settled in towns where only one
family lives per house.
According to their beliefs, the first Tikuna were fished by one of
their heroes, Yo´i in the Eware river, where they used to live like fish.
He brought them out, one by one, and together with his brother Ipi
they divided the first men and women into two large groups that, in
turn, formed clans, each led by an animal for their protection.
They connection with small towns has modified many of their
customs, beliefs and part of its daily life. However, a large part of
their community refuses to lose their culture and dedicates itself to
preserving the ancestral knowledge that was transmitted to them
for centuries.
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