- Urarina
have also been called various names, including: Itukales; Ytucalis, Singacuchuscas; Cingacuchuscas; Aracuies; Aracuyes; Chimacus; and Chambiras (Grohs 1974:53 fn. 4; Velasco 1960: 267; Jouanen 1943, II: 471-2; Figueroa 1904: 163, 177)]
ociety and culture
Urarina
society andculture have received exceptionally little attention in the burgeoningethnographic literature of the region, and only sporadic references in the encyclopedic genre ofPeruvian Amazonia . Accounts of the Urarina peoples are limited to the data reported by Castillo, [Castillo, 1958, 1961] by theracist information relayed by the Germanethnologist G. Tessmann in his magnum opus "Die Indianer Nordost-Peru", [Tassmann, 1930, partial Spanish translation 1987] and to the erratic and idiosyncratic observations ofmissionaries and contemporary adventure seekers.The Urarina are a culturally vibrant,
semi-mobile hunting and horticultural society whose population is estimated to be around 2,000. [ [http://www.latrobe.edu.au/rclt/StaffPages/olawsky.htm#photos Dr Knut Olawsky's photos] , es [http://www.peruecologico.com.pe/etnias_urarina.htm Peruecologico's Urarina factsheet] ] Urarina settlements are composed of multiplelonghouse groups, located on high ground ("restingas") or embankments along the flood-free margins of theChambira Basin s many rivers and streams. The embankments are bounded by low-lying territories ("tahuampa " and "bajiales") that are susceptible to flooding during the annual rainy season (roughly November-May).Urarina local politics are characterized by a mercurial balance of power between
deme s united throughaffinal ties and episodicpolitical alliances, exchange relations and disputation. Surrounded by theJivaroan , and theTupi-Guarani speakingCocama-Cocamilla indigenous people s of theupper Amazon , the Urarina have an elaborateanimist ic cosmological system [Dean, Bartholomew. "The Poetics of Creation: Urarina Cosmology and Historical Consciousness." "Latin American Indian Literatures Journal" 1994 10:22-45] predicated onayahuasca shamanism , which is based in part on the profoundlyritual ized consumption ofBrugmansia suaveolens.The Urarina customarily practice
brideservice , [Dean, Bartholomew. "Forbidden fruit: Infidelity, affinity and brideservice among the Urarina of Peruvian Amazonia." "Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute" March 1995, Vol. 1 Issue 1, p87, 24p ] , [ [http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/URARINA.HTM Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology] , citing Dean 1995]uxorilocal paterns of post-nuptial residence, and sororalpolygyny . While men are esteemed for their hunting prowess and shamanic skills, Urarina women are likewise recognized for their craftsmanship: the women are consummate producers ofwoven palm-fiber bast mats,hammocks , and net-bags. [Dean, Bartholomew. "Multiple Regimes of Value: Unequal Exchange and the Circulation of Urarina Palm-Fiber Wealth" "Museum Anthropology" February 1994, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 3-20 available online [http://www.anthrosource.net/doi/abs/10.1525/mua.1994.18.1.3?prevSearch=allfield%3A%28Dean%2C+Bartholomew%29 (paid subscription)] ] [ "Múltiples regímenes de valor: intercambio desigual y la circulación de bienes intercambiables de fibra de palmera entre los Urarina" "Amazonía peruana", Special edition: "Identidad y cultura", Lima, Published by the Centro Amazónico de Antropología y Aplicacíon Práctica. 1995, p. 75-118 ]Language
Documentation of the
Urarina language , [http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=URA]SIL International Ethnologue data base, accessed 11 July 2006] or which has been classified as alanguage isolate orunclassified language byTerrence Kaufman (1990) has deemed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classification_schemes_for_indigenous_languages_of_the_Americas#Kaufman_.281990.29] accessed 9 July 2006] is now under-way. [Olawsky, Knut (La Trobe University). "Urarina – Evidence for OVS Constituent Order." "Leiden Papers in Linguistics" 2.2, 43-68. [http://lucl.leidenuniv.nl/content_docs/workingpapers/22/olawsky.pdf available online] accessed 5 July 2006] ] Linguistic work among the Urarina was first pioneered bySIL International . [Manus, Ronald and Phyllis Manus. "Text and Concordance of words in Urarina" Datos Etno-Lingüísticos 65 series, SIL; 1979 [http://www.sil.org/americas/peru/html/pubs/del-65.zip available online] accessed 5 July 2006. ] The Urarina continue to tell elaborate myths and stories about theviolence that they experience from outsiders, which historically has included forced-laborconscription ,rape ,disease ,concubinage , and abusive treatment at the hands of outsiders. [In Anderson, Myrdene (ed.) "Cultural Shaping of Violence: Victimization, Escalation, Response." Purdue University Press;2004 ISBN 1-55753-373-3 Chapter 21 [http://wings.buffalo.edu/ARD/cgi/showme.cgi?keycode=2443 reviewed online] accessed 5 July 2006] [ es Dean, Bartholomew."Intercambios ambivalentes en la amazonía: formación discursiva y la violencia del patronazgo." "Anthropológica". 1999, (17):85-115] Portions of theBible were first published in Urarina in 1973, nevertheless the complete Bible is yet to be published. [Worldscriptures.org [http://www.worldscriptures.org/pages/urarina.html online Urarina data] accessed 5 July 2006]Survival
Despite challenges to their on-going cultural survival, including
ecocide , [ [http://www.geocities.com/s_ritadecastilla/contaminame/rijke.html Untitled ] ] inadequate health-care, [ Bartholomew Dean "et al.", 2000 “The Amazonian Peoples’ Resources Initiative: Promoting Reproductive Rights and Community Development in the Peruvian Amazon.” "Health and Human Rights: An International Journal" "Special Focus: Reproductive and Sexual Rights" François-Xavier Center for Health and Human Rights atHarvard University ’s School ofPublic Health ,Vol. 4, No. 2, ] [ http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/fxbcenter/V4N2.htm] accessed July 10 2006] andcultural appropriation , [Bartholomew Dean 2004 “digital vibes & radio waves in indigenous Peru” in "Indigenous Intellectual Property Rights: Legal Obstacles and Innovative Solutions". (ed.) Mary Riley, Contemporary Native American Communities Series, 27-53 New York: Altamira Press, A Division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. [http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0414/2003025783.html] accessed July 9 2006] the Urarina have both been inspired by and resisted the violence of the colonial andpostcolonial encounters inAmazonia , particularly during theAlberto Fujimori dictatorship. [Dean, Bartholomew. "State Power and Indigenous Peoples in Peruvian Amazonia: A Lost Decade, 1990-2000." In "The Politics of Ethnicity Indigenous Peoples in Latin American States". Chapter 7,David Maybury-Lewis (ed.)Harvard University Press [http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/MAYPOL.html?show=contents] ]Indigenous rights
Contemporary indigenous resistance has involved
intercultural education projects [ [http://www.ogmios.org/1110.htm Foundation for Endangered Languages]Cultural Survival 's [http://www.cspubs.org/publications/csq/csq-article.cfm?id=1465 SPECIAL PROJECTS UPDATE: Amazonian People's Resources Initiative; Building Partnerships in Health, Education, and Social Justice October 31, 1997, Cultural Survival Quarterly, Issue 21.3] and IK Monitor 3(3)Research. [http://www.nuffic.nl/ciran/ikdm/3-3/communications/research.html] ] , [Dean, Bartholomew. "Language, Culture & Power: Intercultural Bilingual Education among the Urarina of Peruvian Amazonia" "Practicing Anthropology" Special Issue: Reversing Language Shift in Indigenous America, Published by theSociety for Applied Anthropology . 1999, 20(2):39-43. See online cite,Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of theU.S. Department of Education [http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=RecordDetails&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ610360&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&objectId=0900000b800077e8] ] as well as Urarina politicalmobilization . [Dean, Bartholomew and Jerome M. Levi, Eds "At the Risk of Being Heard; Identity, Indigenous Rights, and Postcolonial States"University of Michigan Press;2003 ISBN 0-472-09736-9 (Chapter 7: Dean, Bartholomew. "At the Margins of Power: Gender Hierarchy and the Politics of Ethnic Mobilization among the Urarina") [http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do?id=11605] ] [Jackson, Jean E and Kay B.Warren. "Indigenous Movements in Latin America, 1992-2004: Controversies, Ironies, New Directions." "Annual Review of Anthropology" 2005, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p549-573, 25p (http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.anthro.34.081804.120529 Brief online review and paid full access)]See also
*
Universal Declaration of Human Rights , (incomplete) Urarina version [http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/ura.htm] from the "Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos"Notes
External links
* Defensoría del Pueblo, Peru [http://www.iidh.ed.cr/comunidades/ombudsnet/docs/docsomb_ie/informe%20defensorial%20n47%20-%20peru.pdf]
* Language Museum [http://www.language-museum.com/u/urarina.php]
* [http://www.dghonline.org/nl4/peruvian.htm DGH in the Peruvian Amazons] by Jonathan Harris
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