Bara

The Bará are an indigenous tribe of people who live near the Rio Vaupes (or Uaupes) basin, in northwestern Brazil and southeastern Colombia. In 2000, there were around 11,130 individuals in Brazil and 18,705 in Colombia. These people speak languages belonging to the Eastern Tukanoan family. Other names for these people are Tukano and Waípinõmakã.

Language

The Tukano family of languages includes 16 languages, with Tukano proper as the most spoken language. The Tukano language has become a sort of lingua franca for the native peoples who live around the Rio Vaupes, and has become to be more used than the other local languages.

A significant number of people speak the language, probably around 20 thousand people. Most other languages belonging to this family are spoken by tribes who live in more remote regions along the river, for instance the Kotiria and Kubeo people.

Social organization

The Bara have a patrilineal and exogamous society. Any individual belongs to the group of their father, but have to marry partners who are from other groups and who speak different languages. Groups of people are divided in a number of clans, ranked in a hierarchy. Clans which rank higher are called "elder brothers" to those below. The rank is related to status and prestige, and generally higher ranking clans live near downstream locations, while lesser clans live in upstream locations. This hierarchy is more evident during rituals, where relations of rank and respect are emphasized. When a woman gets married she leaves her natal place and goes to live with her husband.

Religious life is focused on sacred objects such as feather ornaments, on sacred substances such as red carayurú paint, beeswax and varieties of coca, tobacco and ayahuasca, and on lesser forms of wealth such as names, spells, songs and chants. All of these items are collectively owned by the group and form an integral part of its identity. Public rituals express the group's internal structure and its relations to others. Those who are knowledgeable about rituals and the esotheric world, who control sacred property, and who organize public rituals, can advance their position, and become powerful in their own right.

External links

• Bara on socioambiental.org, in english