Tucano people
Encyclopedia
The Tucano are a group of indigenous
South Americans living in the northwestern Amazon, along the Vaupés River
and the surrounding area. They are present in both Colombia and Brazil, although most live on the Colombian side of the border. They are usually described as being made up of many separate tribe
s, although the appellation is somewhat problematic due to the complex social and linguistic structure of the region.
), the child's mother another, and other women with whom the child has daily contact perhaps still others. However, everyone in the community is interested in language learning so most people can speak most of the languages. Multilingualism is taken for granted, and moving from one language to another in the course of a single conversation is very common. In fact, multilingualism is so usual that the Tucano are hardly conscious that they do speak different languages as they shift easily from one to another. They cannot readily tell an outsider how many languages they speak, and must be suitably prompted to enumerate which languages they speak and to describe how well they speak each one.
. Members of a linguistic descent group marry outside their own linguistic descent group. As a result, it is normal for Tucano people to speak two, three or more Tucanoan languages, and any Tucano household (longhouse) is likely to be host to numerous languages. The descent groups (sometimes referred to as tribes) all have their accompanying language, some of the most well known are listed below.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
South Americans living in the northwestern Amazon, along the Vaupés River
Vaupés River
Vaupés River is a tributary of the Rio Negro in South America. It arises in the Guaviare Department of Colombia, flowing east through Guaviare and Vaupés Departments. It forms part of the international border between Colombia and the Amazonas state of Brazil. On the border it merges with the...
and the surrounding area. They are present in both Colombia and Brazil, although most live on the Colombian side of the border. They are usually described as being made up of many separate tribe
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...
s, although the appellation is somewhat problematic due to the complex social and linguistic structure of the region.
Culture
The Tucano are a multilingual people because men must marry outside their language group; that is, no man may have a wife who speaks his language, for that kind of marriage relationship is not permitted and would be viewed as a kind of incest. Men choose the women they marry from various neighboring tribes who speak other languages. Furthermore, on marriage, women move into the men's households or longhouses. Consequently, in any village several languages are used: the language of the men; the various languages spoken by women who originate from different neighboring tribes; and a widespread regional 'trade' language. Children are born into this multilingual environment: the child's father speaks one language (considered the Tucano languageTucano language
Tucano is a Tucanoan language spoken in Amazonas, Brazil and Colombia.Many speakers of the endangered Tariana language are switching to Tucano.-Bibliography:* Campbell,...
), the child's mother another, and other women with whom the child has daily contact perhaps still others. However, everyone in the community is interested in language learning so most people can speak most of the languages. Multilingualism is taken for granted, and moving from one language to another in the course of a single conversation is very common. In fact, multilingualism is so usual that the Tucano are hardly conscious that they do speak different languages as they shift easily from one to another. They cannot readily tell an outsider how many languages they speak, and must be suitably prompted to enumerate which languages they speak and to describe how well they speak each one.
Descent groups
As mentioned above, the Tucano practice linguistic exogamyExogamy
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:...
. Members of a linguistic descent group marry outside their own linguistic descent group. As a result, it is normal for Tucano people to speak two, three or more Tucanoan languages, and any Tucano household (longhouse) is likely to be host to numerous languages. The descent groups (sometimes referred to as tribes) all have their accompanying language, some of the most well known are listed below.
- Bara Tukano
- BarasanaBarasanaThe Barasana are a Tucanoan group located in the eastern part of the Amazon basin, in the Vaupés District in Colombia and Amazonas State in Brazil. As of 2000 there were at least 500 Barasanas in Colombia, though some recent estimates place the figure as high as 1950...
- CubeoCubeoThe Cubeo are an ethnic group of the Colombian Amazon. Cubeo is a generic name that is used in local Spanish and appears in the literature in reference to a social and linguistic group. Although the term does not have any meaning in their language, the Cubeo refer to themselves by that name in...
(the Cubeo do not practice exogamy) - Desana
- MacunaMacunaThe Macuna are a Tucanoan-speaking group of the eastern part of the Amazon basin, located around the confluence of the Pirá-Paraná and Apaporis rivers, in the Colombian Vaupés Department and the Brazilian state of Amazonas. There are no reliable census data for the Macuna...
- Wanano
- Tucano (or Tucano Proper)
Subsistence
The Tucano are swidden horticulturalists, growing manioc and other staples in forest clearings. They also hunt, trap, fish and forage wild plants and animals.Further reading
- Chernela, Janet M. - The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon: A Sense of Space (1996) (ISBN 0292711867)
- Jackson, Jean E. - The Fish People - Linguistic Exogamy and Tukanoan Identity in Northwest Amazonia (1983) (ISBN 0-521-27822-8)
- Reichel-Dolmatoff, GerardoGerardo Reichel-DolmatoffGerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff was an anthropologist, known for his holistic approach and his in-depth fieldwork among tropical rainforest cultures .- Early life :...
- Rainforest Shamans: Essays on the Tukano Indians of the Northwest Amazon (ISBN 0-9527302-4-3)
External links
- The Importance of Indigenous Knowledge on the National Museum of Natural HistoryNational Museum of Natural HistoryThe National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. Admission is free and the museum is open 364 days a year....