Rainforest Tribes

By Emma Duffett

People of the Rainforest

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

"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

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

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!!!