Tukano

The Tukano are part of a group of sixteen ethnic peoples who live in the Upper Negro River region, along the Uaupés River and its tributaries, in the frontier area between Brazil and Colombia, and in the Apaporis River basin (a tributary of the Japurá River). In Brazilian territory, they total today around 5700 Indians, These groups speak languages of the Eastern Tukano family (only Tariana is of Arawak origin) and participate in a wide network of exchanges, which includes weddings, rituals, and trade, comprising a socio-cultural complex called the “Pira-Paraná social system.” Members of these ethnic groups are also present in the region’s towns, above all São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Santa Isabel, and Barcelos.

The proper Tukano language is the one that has the greatest number of speakers in the Upper Negro region. It is used not only by the Tukano, but also by other groups along the Brazilian Uaupés and its tributaries, the Tiquié and Papuri, exercising the function of a lingua franca for communication between peoples.

The Tukano call themselves Ye’pâ-masa or Daséa. There are currently more than 200 settlements and agricultural plots along the Uaupés River and its tributaries. It is possible that there are more than thirty subdivisions among the Tukano, comprising a hierarchical complex of social and political relations. The Tukano craft a ritual stool from sorbus wood, painting the seat with geometric motifs similar to their plait work, framing a central design that can represent several animals or the snake called Canoa de Transformação [Transformation Canoe], which appears in the myth of origin of this people.

In Tukano cosmology, the wooden stool is a sacred instrument, like the cigar holder and rattle-spear; these are the objects that give the Grandfather of the Universe the power to create animals, lands, and waters. The stool is therefore a highly valued object, obligatory in ceremonies and rituals, when the leaders, healers (kumua) and ceremonial chiefs (bayá) sit on them. Their production in sustainable molds, according to traditional techniques, has been encouraged by project Banco Tukano Kumoi, developed by FOIRN (the Federation of Indigenous Organizations of the Negro River), along with ISA (the Socio-Environmental Institute), with the aim of promoting the commercialization of pieces without compromising the availability of raw material in the present and future.