History
edit| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 1700 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Vale do Javari | |
| Languages | |
| Marubo, Portuguese | |
| Religion | |
| Animism, Catholicism, Evangelical Christianity |
The origins of the Marúbo are mysterious as the Marúbo claim their language originated with the Chaináwavo who are a now extinct subgroup of Marúbo. This seems to imply that at some point the Chaináwavo had significant cultural contact with the other Marúbo subgroups. Meaning it is possible the Marúbo formed either some several tribes culturally coming together or one tribe spreading out and diversifying.[1]
The Marúbo were first contacted in the early 20th century by Peruvians looking to harvest latex from local trees. When many Brazilian rubber workers came over during the Amazon Rubber Boom the Marúbo suffered greatly due to contact with new diseases. During this time they were also forced into debt by local Rubber barons being forced to trade local resources for outside technologies. This gave them a technological edge over the other tribes because they were the first to have access to guns. During this time many social and religious norms were uprooted in order to get more rubber and the majority of the Marúbo were involved in the Rubber industry.[2] By the times the rubber industry crashed in 1912 the Marúbo were nearly extinct, though the rubber industry did not totally disappear until 1938.[2][1]
After the rubber industry left, the Marúbo returned to their previous isolation. During this time a local chief named João Tuxaua managed to get the various subgroups of Marúbo to make peace and stop fighting, and aside from this the Marúbo underwent large societal and political change. They became a confederation of independent tribes unified into one larger whole. By sometime in the 1940s as the Marúbo began to run out of metal tools they began to explore in search of the outside world. They traveled south along the Juruá river when at the mouth of the Ipixuna river they made contact with the Boa Fé rubber plantation. They began to trade animal pelts and raw rubber for industrial products. Soon after Brazilian missionaries began to convert the Marúbo and loggers made contracts with the Marúbo.[1]
During the 1960s the Jaravi valley had little rule of law and native tribes often skirmished. Sometime around 1960, a group of Mayoruna attacked a group of Marúbo gathering turtle eggs, killing a man and abducting three women. The Marúbo retaliated with a raid on a Mayoruna village which supposedly killed 14 Mayoruna with the help of firearms. After this the Brazilian government stepped in to maintain order and a few years later the Mayoruna were convinced by some foreigners to return two of the women, though one didn't return, having either died or assimilated.[2][1]
Religion
editOf the Marúbo 70% are animists, 29.6% are Catholic and 0.4% are Evangelical.[3]
Culture
editConstruction
editThe Marúbo live in communal huts called Malocas which are always in the center of their villages. The Malocas are inhabited by several nuclear families and an owner. Each wife and her children live in a roughly 9 square meter area marked with posts where they cook and sleep and the husbands may stay with one of their wives switching periodically. Inside the Malocas there are two benches where the men eat their two daily meals, one before work and one after. The Woman will eat these meals on mats in the center of the room where there is also a trough where the woman crush grains. On the outskirts of their villages they have several store houses used for storing materials such as tools, machines, clothing etc.[4][1]
Language
editAccording to the Marúbo their language originated with the Chaináwavo before spreading to the other subgroups.[1]
The main language of the Marúbo is the Marúbo language, but this language is considered threatened due to encroachment by Portuguese.[5] Though due to previous contact with Peru many older people know some Spanish. Though as Brazil has become the Marúbo's main contact with the outside world most young men, though few young women have learned Portuguese. The Marúbo also have a special variety of their language which is only used during special rituals.[2]
Societal divisions
editThe Marúbo are divided into 18 clans which pass through matrilineal decent. With the daughter of a mother in clan X becoming part of clan Y and her children rejoining clan X. The Marúbo practice polygamy where a man may marry one or more of his wife's sisters. The Maloca are divded into many groups based on which Maloca they live in but these groups recently have begun to coalesce into larger groups. These larger groups are the ones which interact with the outside world and have designated leaders and Portuguese names.[1]
There are several age distinctions among the Marúbo. Only married men over the age of thirty can take tobacco, snuff, or ayahuasca. In general, younger men are viewed and treated as subservient to older men.[1]
Drug Usage
editThe Marúbo take ayahuasca in order to connect with the forest.[6] They take both snuff and ayahuasca during Shamanic rituals.[1]
Economic Activities
editThe Marúbo often hunt with firearms targeting spider monkeys, woolly monkeys, collared peccarys and occasionally tapirs and white-lipped peccarys. They also practice hook and line fishing.[1] The Marúbo also trap monkeys and keep them as pets.[6]
Women in the Marúbo are responsible for tending swiddens, cooking, harvesting bananas and maniocs, painting bodies. As well as making beads, hammocks, and clothing. From May to September the Marúbo harvest Latex from trees and the rest of the year is used to harvest timer. They then either sell these products to river merchants who sell it on for profit or sell it directly to local towns. The Marúbo also buy things from a store ran by the missionaries.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Marubo - Indigenous Peoples in Brazil". pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
- ^ a b c d e "Marubo". www.amazon-indians.org. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
- ^ Project, Joshua. "Marubo in Brazil". joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
- ^ "The Internet's Final Frontier: Remote Amazon Tribes". Benton Foundation. 2024-06-03. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ "Promotora Española de Lingüística". www.proel.org. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
- ^ a b Nicas, Jack; Moriyama, Victor (2024-06-02). "The Internet's Final Frontier: Remote Amazon Tribes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-20.