The Siona people (also known as Sioni, Pioje, or Pioche-Sioni) are an
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
ethnic group living in the Ecuadorian Amazon or
Oriente (est. population 250 in Ecuador (2000 Juncosa)), and in
Putumayo Department
Putumayo () is a department of Southern Colombia. It is in the south-west of the country, bordering Ecuador and Peru. Its capital is Mocoa.
The word ''putumayo'' comes from the Quechua languages. The verb ''p'utuy'' means "to spring forth" ...
in
Colombia (est. population 300 in Colombia (1982 SIL)). They share territory along the
Shushufindi,
Aguarico, and
Cuyabeno river with the
Secoya people, with whom they are sometimes considered a single population.
The
Siona language is a
Tucanoan language.
The Siona people are organized politically through the National Organization of Seona Indigenous People of Ecuador (ONISE), whose president as of July 1996 was William Crioll
According to Richard Evan Schultes, Where The Gods Reign, p. 27, the "Siona are one of the western Tukanoan groups and live in the
Department of Putumayo, Comissaria del Putamayo in the region of Mocoa." I lived in this area in the summer of 1961 with members of the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Our home was on the Ecuador side of the Putamayo River and the Siona lived on both sides of the river.
The Siona live in
Sucumbios Province in Ecuador, mainly in the
Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve and in the
Department of Putumayo along the
Putumayo River
The Putumayo River or Içá River ( es, Río Putumayo, pt, Rio Içá) is one of the tributaries of the Amazon River, southwest of and parallel to the Japurá River.
Course
The Putumayo River forms part of Colombia's border with Ecuador, as well ...
. Besides some traditional activities for subsistence, they have been participating in the tourism activities since the 1990s. Nevertheless, their participation in the tourism sector has generated various sociocultural and economic changes such as immigration to neighboring cities, gender issues, economic dependency on tourism revenues. The religion of the Siona people is a type of
shamanism that has many spirits that live inside of things like trees, bugs, plants, etc., . Their origin story is about a being named Baina, who did mythic deeds that made up the world as it is today. The Siona people hold many rituals and ceremonies but, the main ceremony is a healing ritual called Yahé
[
Varga, P. (2007) ''Ecoturismo y Sociedades Amazonicas.'' Quito: Ediciones Abya-Yala.]
References
External links
Siona dictionary online(select simple or advanced browsing)
Ethnologue report for Siona
Indigenous peoples of the Amazon
Indigenous peoples in Colombia
Indigenous peoples in Ecuador
Ethnic groups in Ecuador
Indigenous languages of the South American Northern Foothills
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