The Toromona are an

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

of Bolivia. They are an

uncontacted people Uncontacted peoples are groups of indigenous peoples living without sustained contact with neighbouring communities and the world community. Groups who decide to remain uncontacted are referred to as indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation. ...

living near the upper

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 ...

and

Heath River The Heath River, which runs from the Andes surrounding Lake Titicaca northwards to the Madre de Dios River, marks the natural border between Peru and Bolivia. The Eja Sonene indigenous community lives in the area. They are an ethnic group belon ...

s in northwestern Bolivia. Bolivia's Administrative Resolution 48/2006, issued on 15 August 2006, created an "exclusive, reserved, and inviolable" portion of the

Madidi National Park Madidi () is a national park in the upper Amazon Basin, 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 th ...

to protect the Toromona.

Language

The Toromona language is a

Tacanan language Tacanan is a family of languages spoken in Bolivia, with Ese’ejja also spoken in Peru. It may be related to the Panoan languages. Many of the languages are endangered. Family division * Ese Ejja (a.k.a. Ese’eha, Tiatinagua, Chama, Huara ...

History

No non-natives have contacted this tribe. During the Spanish colonization, Spaniards found it difficult to settle down in the area of the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

, where their main goal was to find a secret place called

Paititi Paititi is a legendary Inca lost city or utopian rich land. It allegedly lies east of the Andes, hidden somewhere within the remote rainforests of southeast Peru, northern Bolivia or northwest Brazil. The Paititi legend in Peru revolves around the s ...

, an alleged hiding place of the Incas' biggest treasures that the Incas concealed from the Spaniards. There are some historical records that confirm that the Incas sealed tunnels in ritual ceremonies. Father Miguel Cabello de Balboa wrote about a city of gold and he described

as a place protected by warrior women; he also mentioned the Toromona tribe with notes that it had no mercy in killing. Norwegian biologist Lars Hafskjold searched exhaustively for the Toromona and became quite famous by his disappearance somewhere in the region of the

park in 1997. The Toromona have occasionally been seen by other indigenous peoples in the region. In the 21st century, anthropologist Michael Brohan was informed by members of 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 Spanish might refer to: * Items from or relat ...

that they had contacted a group in voluntary isolation on the eastern bank of the Manurini River, who were speakers of either Toromona or a nearly unintelligible dialect of Araona.

Notes

External links

Bolivia: Indigenous Toromona in voluntary isolation in serious danger of disappearing
World Rainforest Movement {{DEFAULTSORT:Toromona People Uncontacted peoples Indigenous peoples of the Amazon Indigenous peoples in Bolivia