Nukak

Nukak
A Nukak mother and child, 1993
Total population
968[1]
Regions with significant populations
San José del Guaviare settlements: 210-250, Nukak Reservation: estimated at 500
Languages
Nukak
Spanish speakers rare.
Religion
Animist
Related ethnic groups
Kãkwã, or Cacua or Bará-Makú[2]
Other Makú peoples like Hupdu

The Nukak [nɨkãk] people (also Nukak-Makú) live between the Guaviare and Inírida rivers, in the depths of the tropical humid forest, on the fringe of the Amazon basin, in Guaviare Department, Republic of Colombia. They are nomadic hunter-gatherers with seasonal nomadic patterns and practice small-scale shifting horticulture.[3][4] They were classified as "uncontacted people" until 1981,[5] and have since lost half of their population primarily to disease.[6] Part of their territory has been used by coca growers, ranchers, and other settlers, as well as being occupied by guerrillas, army and paramilitaries. Responses to this crisis include protests, requests for assimilation, and the suicide of leader Maw-be'.[6] An estimated 210–250 Nukak people live in provisional settlements at San José del Guaviare, while about as many live nomadically in the Nukak Reservation (Resguardo).

  1. ^ Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia. Censo provisional 2023.
  2. ^ Silverwood-Cope, Peter L. 1990: Os makú, povo caçador do nordeste da Amazônia. Editora Universidade de Brasília. ISBN 85-230-0275-8
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Franky was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Mondragón, Héctor 1994 "La defensa del territorio Nukak" en Antropología y derechos Humanos. Memorias del VI Congreso de Antropología en Colombia. Carlos Vladimir Zambrano editor. Universidad de los Andes, p.p. 139 a 155. Bogotá D.C.- ISBN 978-958-95646-1-5
  5. ^ Hammer, Joshua (March 2013). "The Lost Tribes of the Amazon". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Se suicida un líder indígena, desesperado por la inminente extinción de su pueblo en Colombia," El Mundo, October 2006. [This appears to be a translated press release from Survival.]