Bora people
Encyclopedia
The Bora are an indigenous tribe
of the Peruvian
, Colombia
n and Brazil
ian Amazon
, located between the Putumayo
and Napo
rivers. The Bora speak a Witotan language and comprise approximately 2,000 people. In the last forty years, they have become a largely settled people living mostly in permanent forest settlements.
In the animist Bora worldview, there is no distinction between the physical and spiritual worlds
and spirits are present throughout the world. Bora families practice exogamy
. The Bora have an elaborate knowledge of the plant life of the surrounding rainforest. Like other indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, such as the Urarinahttp://www.upf.com/book.asp?id=DEANXS07 plants, especially trees, hold a complex and important interest for the Bora.
Bows and arrows are the main weapons of the Bora culture used in person to person conflict. The Bora are very divided and politically unorganized.
The Bora have guarded their lands from both indigenous foes and outsider colonials. Around the time of the 20th century, the rubber boom
had a devastating impact on the Boras. The tribe's ancestral lands are currently threatened by illegal logging
practices. The Bora have no indigenous reserves.
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
of the Peruvian
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian Amazon
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
, located between the Putumayo
Putumayo River
The Içá or Putumayo River is one of the tributaries of the Amazon River, west of and parallel to the Yapura. It forms part of Colombia's border with Ecuador, as well as most of the frontier with Peru...
and Napo
Napo River
The Napo is a tributary to the Amazon River that rises in Ecuador on the flanks of the volcanoes of Antisana, Sincholagua and Cotopaxi.The total length of 1075 km. Catchment area of 100,518 square kilometers...
rivers. The Bora speak a Witotan language and comprise approximately 2,000 people. In the last forty years, they have become a largely settled people living mostly in permanent forest settlements.
In the animist Bora worldview, there is no distinction between the physical and spiritual worlds
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
and spirits are present throughout the world. Bora families practice exogamy
Exogamy
Exogamy is a social arrangement where marriage is allowed only outside of a social group. The social groups define the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. In social studies, exogamy is viewed as a combination of two related aspects:...
. The Bora have an elaborate knowledge of the plant life of the surrounding rainforest. Like other indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, such as the Urarinahttp://www.upf.com/book.asp?id=DEANXS07 plants, especially trees, hold a complex and important interest for the Bora.
Bows and arrows are the main weapons of the Bora culture used in person to person conflict. The Bora are very divided and politically unorganized.
The Bora have guarded their lands from both indigenous foes and outsider colonials. Around the time of the 20th century, the rubber boom
Rubber boom
The rubber boom was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related with the extraction and commercialization of rubber...
had a devastating impact on the Boras. The tribe's ancestral lands are currently threatened by illegal logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
practices. The Bora have no indigenous reserves.