The Cavineño People (also ''Cavina, Cavineña, Cavinenyo, Cavinya,'' ''Kaviña'') are an

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. They mainly live along the Beni and

Madidi Madidi () is a national park in the upper Amazon river basin in Bolivia. Established in 1995, it has an area of 18,958km². Along with the nearby protected (though not necessarily contiguous) areas Manuripi-Heath, Apolobamba, and the Manu Bios ...

rivers. There were 3,884 of them in 2012 of whom 1,173 speak the

Cavineña language Cavineña is an indigenous language spoken on the Amazonian plains of northern Bolivia by over 1,000 Cavineño people. Although Cavineña is still spoken (and still learnt by some children), it is an endangered language. Guillaume (2004) states ...

natively. Almost all of them speak Spanish as well. According to

Alfred Métraux Alfred Métraux (5 November 1902 – 12 April 1963) was a Swiss and Argentine anthropologist, ethnologist and human rights leader. Early life Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Métraux spent much of his childhood in Argentina where his father was a ...

the Cavineño and the

Araona people The Araona people are an ethnic group in Bolivia. Their population was 228 according to the 2012 census. Their language is the Araona language which is spoken by 711 people although many speak Spanish as well. The Araonans live in the headwaters of ...

are so intermixed with other Takanan-speaking peoples that it can be difficult to treat them separately. They were moved by the end of the 18th century from the

Madre de Dios River The Madre de Dios River () is a river shared by Bolivia and Peru which is homonymous to the Peruvian region it runs through. On Bolivian territory it receives the Beni River, close to the town of Riberalta, which later joins with the Mamore Rive ...

to the Madidi River. During the rubber fever, from the end of the 19th century, they were, just like many other indigenous peoples in the area, subjected to conditions of semi-slavery. They were later settled at a missionary station at the Beni River. In 1832 there were about 1,000 Cavineño, but only 153 in 1886.

Erland Nordenskiöld Baron Nils Erland Herbert Nordenskiöld (19 July 1877 – 5 July 1932) was a Swedish archeologist and anthropologist. Nordenskiöld's research focused on the ethnography and prehistory of South America. Biography He was born in Stockholm, th ...

describes 218 Cavineño in 1913 at the Jesus de Cavina mission. They were said to speak a Takanan dialect. Today the Cavineños are grouped into six small communities located in the municipalities of

Riberalta Riberalta is a town in the Beni Department in northern Bolivia, situated where the Madre de Dios River joins the Beni River. Riberalta is on the south (south east) bank of the Beni River. As the capital of the province of Vaca Diez, the city ...

and Reyes in Beni and also in Pando. Its largest community is called Puerto Cavinas. They own territories in collective properties that they share with the Tacanas in Beni and with the Ese Ejja and Tacanas in Pando.

References

{{Authority control Ethnic groups in Bolivia