Ticuna Tribe

TICUNA TRIBE
* Área: Alto Solimones - Colombia - Brasil frontier
* Other Names: Tikuna, Tukuna, Magüa
* First Contact: 1532
* Population: 32,613 (1998)
* Economics: Fishing and Agriculture
* Language Root: Alolfilo (not yet identified)
The Ticuna, also spelled Tukuna or Tikuna, reside in the Brazilian Amazon rain forest near the borders of Peru and Colombia. There areover 70 established Ticuna aldeias (villages) in the Alto Solimones, in the area of the rivers Santo Antonio do Ica and Solimones River. There is also a population in Colombia. The Ticuna were one of the first major tribes of the Amazon to be contacted by the early conquistadors. They are one of the last large population groups left in Brazil. Even with over 400 years of contact, the Ticuna Nationhas managed to preserve their personal identity through their native language, traditional religions, rituals, and cultural art forms. They have survived the constant threat of violent extermination and forced integration policies by Western society. The Ticuna are a very artistic tribe whose talents include basketry, wood and stone sculpture, and mask making. They also make  bark cloth which is anatural fiber, paper-like fabric which they often paint. This fabric is often incorporated into many things such as masks and dolls as well as painting on it as on canvas or paper. They are one of the few Amazon tribes that paint just for the worth of the painting itself as opposed to painting as decoration on a utilitarian object.
A very traditional and artistic tribe, the Ticuna have a veryrich culture using ceremony and ritual to commemorate many facets of their life. They are known for the traditional masks and costumes they use in these ceremonies.
When a Ticuna dies he is buried in a canoe that has a top carved for it. With this canoe he will cross the river of death. Within the canoe are put things he will need in the afterlife. During the funeral there is a ceremony in whichthe members of the tribe dance with masks that are carved to represent all the birds and animals that the deceased will want to hunt in the next life. This ritual is designed to make certain that these kinds of game will be plentiful for him. The mask is made of hand carved wood on pounded bark cloth. Both the wood and the bark cloth are decorated with natural vegetable paints. Typically the barkcloth goes over the top of the head and the carving rests on the forehead allowing the dancer to see through the porous cloth or sometimes he sees through the mouth or eyes of the carving.
TICUNAS
Nombre alterno: tikuna, tukuna
Lengua: La familia lingüística es independiente, con raíces Tupí.
La palabra ticuna parece ser un término de origen Tupí, que utilizaban otras etnias para denominar a los–hombres de negro-, aquellos que se pintaban. 
UBICACIÓN GEOGRÁFICA TICUNA
Se encuentran ubicados al sur de la Amazonia en el río Cotuhé, caño Ventura, Santa Lucía, Buenos Aires y en la zona de influencia de Leticia. Se asientan en los resguardos de San Antonio de los Lagos, San Sebastián, El Vergel, Macedonia, Mocagua y Cothué-Putumayo, en el Departamento del Amazonas. Viven también en Perú yBrasil, donde su población es de 20.000 personas en el río Isa y en la región del Alto Solimoes.
POBLACIÓN TICUNA
En Colombia, los ticuna constituyen uno de los pueblos más numerosos de la Cuenca Amazónica, en donde habitan aproximadamente 7.102 personas.
HISTORIA TICUNA
Antiguamente vivían en las riberas de los ríos Atacuarí, Loreto-Yacú, y Marinacu. A finales del siglo XIX, llegaron a laregión las primeras migraciones que trajeron consigo la creación de poblados mestizos y el establecimiento de misiones católicas. Esta nueva lógica de ocupación espacial influyó en la sedentarización de algunos grupos. Para este mismo período, el conflicto colombo-peruano y la explotación cauchera -basada en el sistema de endeude- afectó significativamente a la población. Durante el siglo XX, los...