Transcript Rainforest Tribes

Rainforest Tribes
By Emma Duffett
People of the Rainforest
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We often overlook the millions of people that live in
the rain forests. Did you know that there are about
50,000,000 tribal people living in world's
rainforests? These people depend on the forests for
their food and shelter. As we cut more and more
trees and destroy more and more of the forests, we
are also killing people. Many native tribes have been
exterminated already because their governments
failed to protect them from logging companies, the
mining companies and the slash and burn farmers.
The Pygmies
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This Pygmy woman is
food outside her hut,
with her baby cradled
on her back. Mbuti and
Baka Pygmies live in the
rainforests of Central
America. Traditionally
they live by hunting
and gathering food.
The Huli
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The Huli are one of the
many tribes that live in the
remote highland forests of
Papua New Guniea. They
live by hunting, gathering
plants and growing
crops. Men and women
live seperately, in large
group houses. The men
decorate their bodies with
colored clay and wear
elaborate headdresses for
ceremonies.
The Yanomami
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One of the largest groups
of Amerindian people in
South America is the
Yanomami. Their village
life is centered around the
yano, or communal
house. The yano is a large,
circular building
constructed of vine and
leaf thatch, which has a
living space in the
middle. This picture shows
Yanomami men eating a
meal.
Baka
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Did you know that there is a tribe called
the Baka? Read our report to find out about
their lives in the rain forest. Hope you enjoy
reading about this interesting tribe. The
main topics we will write about are their
houses, habitat, food, and medicines. The
Baka live in interesting houses made out of
Tilipi leaves. They look like green
igloos! The women make these temporary
houses. First they bend small saplings into
the shape of a dome. Then they slit the stem
of the Tilipi leaves so they can weave a
water proof roof to go over the stick frame.
The Baka travel in small family sized
groups during the rainy season. They return
to their villages in the dry season. They
travel in the rainy season because they can
find more food. The Baka eat all different
things like berries, nuts, fish, termties, and
honey. The men are usually the ones to go
hunting for the food. Some of the plants they
eat are poisonous. If they are poisonous, they
drain them out in the lake and the fish die
from the poison and come to the
surface.Then they eat the fish and plant.
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The men get honey from the trees. The
women carry their babies with them as
they catch fish or gather vegetables and
grubs. They also eat termites which taste
like raw eggs.
The Baka have some interesting
medicines that we learned about. One
medicine is used to make aches and pains
go away. That is made out of
leaves. Another medicine is for the
women. It is to help her have a baby.
That is what an old woman told a young
woman. The last medicine is for boys. It
is to make them grow and get stronger.
The Baka don't care for other tribes'
villages. They only go to another tribe's
village to trade the meat they have killed
for fruits and vegetables. Most of the
time the other tribe is a farming tribe. The
Baka don't trust the other village's
drinking water, that is one reason why
they don't like to go there.
The Cashinahu
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The Cashinahua tribe is originally
from eastern Peru. They are a lot
more modern than they use to
be. They have completely
replaced blowguns with guns.
However, they still make clay pots
and pottery. They still make
beautiful jewelry necklaces. They
mainly used to use stones but
now they use knives and other
tools. They are really into body
piercing and body paints. They
use wooden spoons and eat out
of clay bowls. They also make
huge buckets to hold water. Their
homes are made out of sticks and
mud and other things like leaves.
For clothes they wear fur and
rags.
Kayapo
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The Kayapo Indians live in the Amazon River Basin of Brazil
in an area that is about the size of Austria, with villages
that are along the Xingu River. Their territory is made up of
mostly tropical rain forests. The name Kayapo was given to
the tribe by neighboring Indian tribes. The word kayapo
means "resembling apes" and was probably given because
sometimes the men dance in monkey masks.
Circles are one of the tribe's main symbols because the
course of the sun and moon are circular. Body paint, which
is worn at all times, is very symbolic in their culture. It is a
display of status and social behavior. Red and black are the
two main colors worn. Men and boys apply their own paint,
using their hands. Children are painted by their mothers
who use fancy designs on them. Women get together every
10 days to reapply their own body paint.
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The Witoto tribe resides near the Boras tribe, on
the Peru-Colombia border. These people are
famous for their low-signal drums, their wise
use of medicinal plants, and their large
communal housing complexes. For several
centuries, European explorers left the Witoto
alone. However, like the Boras, the Witoto were
enslaved during the rubber boom, and
thousands died from disease and hunger. Many
were also executed for attempted escape.
This tribe lives in the northwest amazon
basin. They are smart and they use lots of
medicinal plants. They also have communal
houses and hollow log signal drums. They are
very skilled hunters that will hunt for
survival. When the warriors are successful in
battle, they celebrate by eating the meat of
people they kill and use the bones to make
things.
Aids threatens Namibian tribe's
traditions
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The Himba people have over the
years jealously guarded their
customs and traditions, but these
same cherished values now threaten
to wipe them out.
Customs such as polygamy and
overdependence on cattle as a pillar
around which all economic activity
revolves are making the Himba
particularly vulnerable to HIV/Aids.
The Himba culture also encourages
older men who are rich in cattle to
monopolise the women - many of
the men marry several young girls
whose offspring help in the
important task of raising cattle.
This culture - apart from ensuring
that girls marry at a very early age seems to punch holes in the lives of
the young newly-weds.
Aids threatens Namibian tribe's
traditions
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"I have three
boyfriends, in addition
to my husband,"
admits a young Himba
woman named
Tjingee.
"When a woman has
only her husband,
other women will
tease her saying she
is useless for only
having one man,"
Tjingee says.
Aids threatens Namibian tribe's
traditions
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Himba women often reside at distant cattle
posts where grazing is good while the husband
remains in the homestead.
"This gives them an opportunity to have these
extramarital relations," says Charles Varije, a
Red Cross volunteer helping the Himba to
protect themselves from HIV/Aids. The Himba
culture also allows loose sex - an old uncle will
readily offer one of his many wives to a nephew
during visits.
This has contributed to the spread of HIV/Aids
among the Himba - who lead a pastoralist life in
north-western Namibia.
The Himba, who are estimated to number
46,000, have also in recent times been ignoring
some of their age-old customs and traditions by
intermarrying.
"The Himba have begun to intermarry with the
Zemba and the Herero....by marrying out of
their tribe they have exposed themselves to
HIV/Aids," says Mr Verije, adding that last year
seven cases of HIV/Aids were reported in
the area.
Aids threatens Namibian tribe's
traditions
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The main challenge facing the volunteers
is how to convince the Himba to change a
way of life that they have stubbornly held
onto for so long.
The Red Cross is teaching the Himba
about HIV/Aids and reproductive
health"Some will listen and live, others
will not and will die," says volunteer
Moms Mutambo, himself a Himba.
But even if some Himba grasp the
catastrophic implications of HIV/Aids in
their community, the daunting task will
be to convince them about the urgency of
the problem.
"A disease that can kill you in a decade
does not concern the older men of our
community," says Mr Mutambo.
To be able to curb the spread of the
HIV/Aids pandemic the Himba people
will have some difficulty choices to make
- but in the end they will no doubt be
forced to discard some of their cherished
cultural practices and traditions.
Pictures of Rainforests
The End!!!