Thursday, February 19, 2015

The Urarinas


The Urarinas


Historical Summary:

The Urarinas inhabited originally in the Chambira river, having originally been a large group. In 1651, Jesuit missionaries made contact with this group through the christianized Cocam
illas, being seated in an annex of Jeberos Mission Concepcion. A year later, Father Lucero took some Urarinas to San Xavier de Chamicuros subsequently were transferred to Santiago de la Laguna.


In the late nineteenth century, Urarinas were persecuted by rubber patterns. Given these attacks they escaped to the areas of the headwaters of the river Chambira. Some were caught and turned into slaves on the farms located in the Marañón River. By 1924, Paul Rivet in his account of South American indigenous languages, are considered extinct, but by 1930 Tessman said 300 Urarinas still survived. Early in 1950, the number of Urarinas declined due to an epidemic.
In 1974, oil exploration in the area of Urarinas generated an increase demand for manufactured products and opened the possibility of offering labor.

Social Organization:

The social organization of Urarinas is characterized by patrilineal descent groups, preferential marriage with the bilateral cross-cousin and rule of post-marital residence matrilocal.

Economic Activities:

The Urarinas practice swidden horticulture, hunting and fishing. The main crops grown in the orchards are cassava (Manihot sculenta), banana (Musa paradisiaca), maize (Zea mays), rice (Oryza sativa), the Sachapapa (Dioscorea trifida), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) and papaya (Carica papaya). Hunting is practiced individually and fishing, both individually and collectively. The collection is aimed at obtaining palm fruits such as palm (Mauritia flexuosa) and pijuayo (Actris gasipaes) and secondary forest trees as ungurahui (Oenocarpus bataua Mart).

The Urarinas produce for the bird market and agricultural products; also sell fine woods, leathers and fabrics palm of great demand in the regional market.

Vulnerability:

This relatively small group, is located in an area of oil exploration and forest extraction, can being qualified in a situation of medium vulnerability.


Family Language:            Unclassified
Autodenomination:          No autodenominación

Geographical Location:

Province   Department  District
Loreto       Loreto          Tigre
Loreto       Loreto          Trompeteros
Loreto       Loreto           Urarinas

Rivers and tributaries Chambira; Urituyacu, Corrientes and Ocelot.

Demographics: Population  Enumerated.
 TOTAL   MALE    FEMALE
  564        293         271

 Number of communities: 17


More information: info@amazonexplorer.com