The Witoto (also Huitoto or Uitota) are an indigenous people in southeastern Colombia and northern Peru."Witoto."
''Encyclopædia Britannica.'' Retrieved 6 Dec 2011.

History

The Witoto first experienced contact with Europeans at the beginning of the 17th century. However, contact remained sporadic into the 19th century. The Witoto people were once composed of 100 villages or 31 tribes, but disease and conflict have reduced their numbers. At the early 20th century, Witoto population was 50,000. The

rubber boom The Amazon rubber boom ( pt, Ciclo da borracha, ; es, Fiebre del caucho, , 1879 to 1912) was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related to the extraction and comm ...

in the mid-20th century brought diseases and displacement to the Witotos, causing their numbers to plummet to 7,000–10,000. The rubber boom also increased outside interest in the caucho extraction due to the surge in production and demand. In the Witoto region, Julio Cesar Arana was one of the main figures of the rubber industry. He founded the Peruvian Amazonian Company, a business that extracted and sold Amazonian caucho rubber. The company relied on indigenous, including Witoto, labor, and he kept his workers in unending servitude through constant debt and physical torture. His practices had such a large negative impact on the surrounding indigenous nations that, by the time the company’s work ended, indigenous populations in the area had declined by more than half of their original numbers. Since the 1990s, cattle ranchers have invaded Witoto lands, depleted the soil, and polluted the waterways. In response to the incursions, the Colombian government established several reservations for Witotos.

Subsistence

Witoto peoples practice swidden or

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...

agriculture. To prevent depleting the land, they relocate their fields every few yields. Major crops include cacao,

coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

, bitter and sweet

manioc ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

, bananas, mangoes,

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

plantains Plantain may refer to: Plants and fruits * Cooking banana, banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking ** True plantains, a group of cultivars of the genus ''Musa'' * ''Plantaginaceae'', a family of flowerin ...

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

, sweet potatoes, and yams. Tobacco and peanuts are also cultivated in small quantities.

Ethnobotanists Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...

have studied Witoto agriculture due to its efficiency and sustainability. Witoto men hunt with

blowgun A blowgun (also called a blowpipe or blow tube) is a simple ranged weapon consisting of a long narrow tube for shooting light projectiles such as darts. It operates by having the projectile placed inside the pipe and using the force created ...

s and shotguns.

Culture

Traditionally the Witoto are divided into a number of groups. The largest group are the Murui, who live on the western end of their historical territory. Another group, the Muinane, traditionally lived to the east of the Murui. Historically they were a large group but most were gradually absorbed into the Murui. A third group, the Meneca, live in the Putumayo and Ampiyacu riversheds. There are also a number of significantly smaller groups. Traditionally, the Witoto people lived according to their patrilineal lineage. This practice is less common today, although some elders in the community continue the tradition. They live in communal houses known as ''joforomo'' or ''maloca'' that several families share. Every family has an independent sector where they can hang their hammocks. Their diets consist mainly of Casabe, arepas made with yuca brava flour, and protein from hunting and fishing. Bulletin (1948) (20239075598)

In their ''maloca'', men have a specific place where they can consume an ancestral green powder called ''mambe,'' or ''jiibie.'' This powder is made from coca leaves and the ashes of yarumo. Traditionally, when Witoto men consume ''mambe'' they play drums called Maguare, which can be heard kilometers away. The purpose of these drums is to communicate with nearby tribes. Bora-Witoto

Notes

External links

"Huitoto Tribe in Colombia Teaches its Native Language"
''Indian Country Today'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Witoto People Indigenous peoples of the Amazon Indigenous peoples in Colombia Indigenous peoples in Peru