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Many people know that the Amazon jungle is populated by different peoples who have lived in these lands since long before Christopher Columbus reached the American shores in 1492. However, what not everyone knows is who these tribes are and what makes them so special.
If you want to know a little more about what are the indigenous peoples of the Amazon And what is special about them so that it is necessary to fight for their survival, keep reading Green Ecologist and we will tell you about it.
What is the Amazon
The Amazon is the name of the largest river in South America and that gives its name to all the jungle that grows around it: the amazon jungle. However, when talking about the Amazon jungle, what is actually being referred to is an immense geographical region that spans different countries, and which is called Amazonia, in reference to both the river and the jungle.
The Amazon It is a region that extends throughout some areas of countries such as Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana. It is a region of incalculable ecological wealth, since the Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, which has earned it the nickname "the lung of the planet."
What are indigenous peoples
Talk about the Indigenous villages It is talking about the peoples that have inhabited a certain territory since almost immemorial times. In some cases, these towns are also called isolated villages, referring to the fact that both its people and its cultures have remained without contact with modern civilization from its beginnings to the present day or that, at least, the contact has been minimal.
This constitutes a fundamental element, since it allows the intangible wealth of the cultural tradition of isolated and indigenous peoples its original lands have been preserved unaltered to this day, which, in addition to having great value as intangible wealth, also constitutes an opportunity for anthropologists to study.
The isolated and indigenous peoples that still exist today are located both in the region of India, Oceania and, above all, in the region of Amazonia. To this has contributed, how could it be otherwise, the jungle itself, which constitutes a natural barrier between the Amazon tribes and modern civilization.
What are the indigenous peoples of the Amazon - list of names
Many of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest differ little from one another. In this way, anthropologists have grouped the amazon indians in diverse groups formed by several tribes that, although they have differences between them, the similarities are sufficiently important as to consider them in the same group (for example the language). This is one list of indigenous peoples of the Amazon, you will see some of the ones that have been studied the most:
Uncontacted Indians in Peru
- Nahua
- Cashibo-cacataibo
- Masco-piros
- Nanti
- Matsigenkas
Uncontacted Indians in Brazil
- Piripkura
- Kawahiva
- Korubos
- Kuikuro
- Kalapalos
- Yanomanis
- Piripkuras
Uncontacted Indians in Colombia
- Yuri
- Nukak
How many indigenous peoples are there in the Amazon region
Currently, it is not known for sure how many of these indigenous peoples live in the interior of the Amazon rainforest. Despite this, it is estimated that the number of isolated villages in the Amazon could be around 400 villages, of which at least more than 80 have been studied and described by anthropologists. Of all the countries in which we find indigenous peoples, Brazil is by far the largest number of them, reaching more than 100 different peoples, followed by Peru with 25 peoples.
What are the indigenous tribes of the Amazon like?
These groups of humans that they live in the Amazon rainforest they have kept their customs and lifestyles unchanged for thousands of years. In fact, they constitute a benchmark without comparison when it comes to understanding how the first lifestyles of man could have been during the Paleolithic (before the invention of agriculture).
In this way, we are faced with peoples that are hunters and gatherers in most cases, whose groups do not usually exceed twenty people, and who they live in harmony with nature that surrounds them, which they identify in most cases as a kind of "mother nature", in a form of religion typical of each people and which, according to anthropologists, is close to a belief that combines pantheism and animism at the Same time.
In this other Green Ecologist article we will tell you more about How the Amazon tribes live.
Dangers faced by indigenous peoples of the Amazon
However, despite the fact that these peoples have survived in the Amazon ecosystem for thousands of years, the reality is that modern civilization is posing real danger for their survival. One of the most pressing problems they face is the survival of the forest itself which, due to deforestation Motivated by the timber industry, agriculture and livestock, each year it loses more and more square kilometers of area. In fact, between the 70s of the 20th century and 2014, 19% of the surface of the Amazon has been cut down, which represents a very serious and unprecedented environmental damage on this scale. In this other article you will be able to learn more about the Deforestation of the Amazon: causes and consequences and, in addition, in the video below you will be able to learn more about this topic.
On the other hand, beyond the destruction of the environment, indigenous peoples have to face situations of violence that pose another threat to their survival. In this sense, the violence carried out by agents such as some local governments, companies with economic interests in the area, or the scourge of drug trafficking, constitute a real burden when it comes to guaranteeing their survival.
However, actions from some governments that are aware of the problem posed by survival of indigenous peoples of the AmazonAs well as actions promoted by some NGOs, they are helping to stop the destruction of both the Amazon and the peoples that still inhabit it. In this sense, some initiatives such as declaring protected areas, empower indigenous peoples and fighting corruption and drug trafficking, constitute an invaluable help in ensuring that these indigenous peoples, and the Amazon jungle itself, have a future.
If you liked discovering what are the indigenous people of the Amazon and various aspects about them, you may want to learn more about them and other indigenous people with these other Green Ecologist articles:
- American Indians: names of tribes and their customs.
- 16 African tribes: names, meanings and customs.
- Australian aborigines: names of peoples and their customs.
If you want to read more articles similar to What are the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, we recommend that you enter our category of Indigenous Peoples.
