fbpx

The Nukini

Si te gusta comparte y ayúdanos a crecer

The Nukini

The Nukini are part of the group of Pano-speaking peoples that inhabit the Juruá Valley region and share very similar ways of life and worldviews, and a devastating history of dispossession, violence and exploitation since the mid-19th century.  from the hands of the rubber industry. The Nukini Indigenous Land, adjacent to the Serra do Divisor National Park, is now part of one of the most important mosaics of protected areas in Brazil. The main challenge they face, like most ethnic groups in Brazil and perhaps the world, is to ensure their physical and cultural reproduction.

( Kuntanawa tribe )

Location

The Nukini Indigenous land is located in Acre, in the extreme southwest of the Brazilian Amazon region. The state has international borders with Peru and Bolivia. The landscape is mainly composed of sedimentary rocks that form an uninterrupted platform that falls gently from 300 meters above sea level in the international limits to just over 100 meters in the limit with the state of Amazonas. At the western end, the relief is altered by the presence of the Serra do Divisor, an atypical of the Peruvian Contamana mountain range and the highest point in the state, with a maximum altitude of 600 meters. The soils of Acre are covered by a natural vegetation composed mainly of tropical forest. The climate is hot and humid tropical type. The hydrography of Acre is formed by the Juruá and Purus basins. The Serra do Divisor National Biodiversity Value (PNSD) is among the highest found so far in the Brazilian Amazon. This biological diversity has been used and conserved for centuries by the resident population of the area, including the Nukini. In some historical texts, the Nukini are also known as Inucuini, Nucuiny, Nukuini, Nucuini, Inocú-inins and Remo. As a result of contact with those involved in the expansion of the rubber frontier, there are currently few native Nukini speakers. Possibly because they were subjected to ridicule and discrimination for speaking the language, they stopped transmitting the language to their descendants, thus creating a younger generation that only speaks Portuguese. As a result of their close contact with rubber tappers, small producers and riverside communities of the upper Juruá, the Nukini have adopted many of their habits while maintaining their own identity, especially with regard to social organization.

( Arara Shawadawa Tribe )

Build style

Nukini residences are generally built using resources from the forest. Some houses have paxiubão walls and floors[un tronco de palma] and palm leaf roofs, especially the caranaí palm. Other homes are built with sawn plank walls and floors, generally of good quality wood, while rooms and ceilings are made of lightweight wood. There are also buildings with zinc roofs, mainly schools and health posts.

tribu-nikini-ubicación-historia

Social structure

The Nukini have a clan-based organization. The older members are able to accurately identify all the patrilineal ancestry of families, classifying their members according to the clans to which they belong: Inubakëvu (‘people of the spotted jaguar’), Panabakëvu (‘people of the assai palm’), Itsãbakëvu (‘town of the patoá palm’) or Shãnumbakëvu (‘town of the serpent’). Nukini houses generally contain nuclear families. Near a house there may be others belonging to married children who have formed their own nuclear family. Residence patterns are often associated with the rules of marriage, where a son will live close to his father-in-law. However, this rule is not always followed and after marriage a couple may choose to live in a place away from their families of origin. The ancestry is patrilineal, as appears to be the case in most Pano towns, with clearly defined divisions of labor by sex and age. Men are primarily responsible for hunting, gathering and farming activities. Women are responsible for activities within the domestic sphere, in addition to collecting forest products, making handicrafts and helping with agricultural activities. With regard to politics, they now have a system of representation by election. Thus, the political leader of the community, the president of the production association and the representative of the group in the Consultative Council of the Serra do Divisor National Park, created in 2002, are elected.

( Apurina Tribe )

Mariri

Regarding rituals, like other Pano groups in the region, they currently dance the mariri and sing many indigenous songs, some composed by themselves and others taught by the older members.

WhatsApp
1
Chat?
Hola!
En que puedo ayudarte?