Rikbaktsa people

The Rikbaktsa, also called canoeiros, are an indigenous people that live in the Brazilian Amazon. You have been contacted from 1955/60 by different development teams and missionaries. The Rikbaktsa live in the northeast of the state of Mato Grosso. The traditional territory is located between the rivers Juruena and Rio do Sangue, which by the limits of the states of Amazonas and Mato Grosso, in the south by the confluence of the rivers Juruena and Papagaio, to the east by the river Arinos, and to the west by the north the river Rio Aripuanã is limited.

The population was at the time of first contact about 1,000 people, sank in the meantime up to 550 and from 1995 was again over 900 people who now live in about 30 villages. The language belongs to the Rikbaktsa Sprachfamille macrujé. Portuguese is the spoken language today. Since not all children Rikbaktsa dominate, Portuguese and Rikbaktsa are taught at the US-led Rikbaktsa even schools.

The farming practices have changed by the advance of the Brazilian population. At times, the extraction of rubber was one of the main sources of income. Traditional Subsistenzformen are hunting, gathering and fishing as well as shifting cultivation. Due to the decimation of the traditional territories through plantations and by the advance of amateur anglers fish and wildlife wealth is strongly decreased. Therefore, the Rikbaktsa are increasingly dependent on money to acquire Grundnahrungsmittein and medicines.

Because of their skill and feather the Rikbaktsa reached great popularity among collectors. The springs are mainly made ​​of parrots as pets live in the villages and which feathers are pulled out when needed.