Column: Tribe struggles between past and prrsent in Colombia

Tuesday, August 28, 2012  

"On an ordinary day in 1988 a group of 49 mostly women and children walked out of the jungle and into the small village of Calamar, in the Amazon region of Colombia. Their heads were shaved and their faces were painted with red lines. They were naked, wore no shoes, and did not speak any language that the inhabitants of the village had heard before. Members of nearby indigenous tribes, government officials, language specialists, and anthropologists were called upon to try to communicate with the mysterious new arrivals.

After much difficulty, members of a Makú tribe were able to exchange a few words with the new arrivals. The strangers were finally identified as the Nukak, a group previously unknown to the outside world and one of the last nomadic tribes left anywhere on the planet. Because of their nomadic lifestyle and tendency to leave little evidence of having lived in an area, the Nukak had flown below the radar of anthropologists and the Colombian government.

The rest of the world was similarly unknown to the Nukak, who had lived for centuries in isolation. Until shortly before their march into Calamar, the Nukak were unaware of what lay beyond the vast greenness of the Amazon."

Get the Story:
Laura Sesana: The Nukak Makú; Struggling between past and present (The Washingotn Times 8/28)