Witoto people

The Uitoto (Spanish Witoto ) are an indigenous people in south- eastern Colombia. The Uitoto call themselves Komini. The word comes from the language of Uitoto Caraibenstämme which this for the designation of an enemy use ( Koch- Grünberg, Journ. De la Soc. Amer. NS de Paris III, p 158). The German ethnologist Konrad Theodor Preuss spent during his stay a few months in 1913-1919 Uitoto and describes in his 1921 book " Religion and Mythology of the Uitoto " his experiences and insights. Attached particular importance Preuss on the recording, translation and interpretation of the myths of Uitoto.

The settlement area of Uitoto ( 35,000 km ² ) is located in the Colombian districts Caquetá and Amazon as well as south and east beyond the borders of Peru and Brazil.

Population

The population was estimated in 1921 by the Uitoto Preuss 25,000.

The last census gives the Colombian Uitoto with a population of about 6100 on Colombian territory. Furthermore, now live about 1900 Uitoto in northern Peru ( census 1993) and around 180 in the Brazilian Amazon.

Language

The Uitoto speak dialects of the language family Uitoto. There are four main dialects: Mika and Minika are common in the area of the rivers of Caquetá and Putumayo. The dialect spoken in Bue area of the river Caraparaná, the Nipode dialect is is common in the northern Uitoto. The Speaker of the Noferuene dialect are distributed over the entire area of Uitoto.

The world view

Based on the myths of Uitoto the world is composed of five parts. In the center of the human world is. It is referred to by the Uitoto as Komini Iko or Anadiko, which translates as " the bottom ", ie the world under heaven means. You will also Nikarani - the Daydreamed, the dream image - called. About this middle world, there are two sky. The first Heaven, which the Uitoto as Biko, is divided into the myth in three heavens. The mean sky embodies the realm of the sun being Husiniamui ( Husiniamui ibirei = Husiniamuis world). It is the light sky Reredeiko while under Husiniamuis world the red sky Hiarereiko is located, we can see from Earth. About the first heaven is the supreme sky which is inhabited by a delightful vigorous nature, similar to a spider ( Siinamo ), but could learn nothing more about the Preuss. In the world of men is the first underworld, the world of the ancestors of the Uitoto, which is also called Okinuyema ibirei. The word Okinuyema stands for one of the most important mythological ancestors of Uitoto. At this place where the remaining ancestors live, reverse the Uitoto back after death. The souls exiled people go to heaven to be Husiniamui. Under the first underworld, the residence of the primal father, the lowest world, the Hudyarai or Igori means and is full of fire. The people have risen through a cave in the east to the surface. The place of the ascent, so the cave is also equated with the place of the sunrise ( Biko Buadiagomei ). Neighboring tribes living in the East, are considered direct ancestors of Uitoto ( Muinane ). ( Preuss 1921, p 49 )

Festivals

The festivals of the Uitoto are all religious in nature, although they occasionally organize to mere entertainment dances it. The Uitoto have the following festivals:

Okima, the feast of manioc and the ancestors
Uike, the ball game hard
Dyadiko, dancing on the eponymous dance tree
Huare, the festival for making the slit drums
Eianyo, the feast of weeping
Bai, the festival, which is celebrated after the consumption of human flesh
Meni, the feast of the soul Fangs
Rafue, the festival of the dead

Left

The ethnic groups in Colombia: The Uitoto ( Spanish)
Census data of the Uitoto in northern Peru ( Spanish)

Ethnic group in Colombia
Ethnicity in Peru
Indigenous people in South America
Indigenous people in Brazil

Amazonas Department Manihot

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