The Changing Faces of the Amazon
The Amazon rainforest is not only home to plants and animals, but a wide variety of people also live here. This year's expedition is taking us through three countries: Peru, Colombia, and Brazil. Each country has unique traditions and history, speaks different languages and dialects, and their cultures can be quite different from one another. Tonight, the side of the river we’re camped on is in Peru. However, as we look out across the other side, we're looking at Columbia.
The Amazon rainforest is home to about 26 million people, including over 400 different indigenous groups. Most anthropologists agree that people have been living in the Amazon Rainforest for over 30,000 years. Throughout that time Amazonian people have been paying close attention to their surroundings, because it supplies them with food, shelter, medicines, and plays a significant part in the spiritual lives of people.
Throughout history, people have used the Amazon's vast network of rivers to develop a way of life that is in harmony with the forest. Lifestyles and cultures that use the forest responsibly, and only take what is needed are said to be sustainable. Sustainable cultures exist throughout the Amazon today, and each day we see people living as members of their ecosystem. Think of your lifestyle, in what ways is it sustainable?
However, people and cultures in the rainforest are changing quickly. As new groups of people move into the rainforest in search of work, they are having a significant impact on the forest. Large farms, logging, oil exploration, and settlements are disrupting the traditional way of life in the rainforest. Native, or indigenous, people of the rainforest are faced with having to choose between traditional life and modern lifestyles. However, for most indigenous people, life today is a blend of traditional ways and modern conveniences. The process of changing from a traditional way of life to a modern one is called modernization.
Instead of wearing traditional clothes from materials found in the rainforest (like loin cloths and grass skirts), most indigenous Amazonians wear clothes similar to you and me. People mostly wear t-shirts, shorts, and pants that have been imported from cities. Most people use metal pots, pans, and utensils for everyday life, which are also brought in from outside the rainforest.
Today, almost no native groups rely only on gathering food by traditional hunting and gathering. Nearly all groups have farms where they grow crops like fruits, yucca (a potato-like food), corn, rice, and other vegetables. Hunting and fishing provide meat for families. However, today, it is more common to see people hunting with rifles than the traditional blowdart gun.
On Monday, we should cross into Brazil. The Brazilian Amazon is home to between 280,000 and 350,000 indigenous people, of which 180,000 live traditionally. The rainforest in Brazil is much more remote than that in Peru. These people depend on the ancient forest for their sustenance and spiritual and cultural life. In Peru, it is believed that there are eleven groups of people who have very limited or no contact with the outside world. In Brazil the number of un-contacted groups or tribes is thought to be over thirty. We probably won’t meet any people living in a completely traditional manner, because for the most part, they live off the main river. It takes days or weeks to travel deep enough into the rainforest to meet these people.
The Amazon rainforest is home to about 26 million people, including over 400 different indigenous groups. Most anthropologists agree that people have been living in the Amazon Rainforest for over 30,000 years. Throughout that time Amazonian people have been paying close attention to their surroundings, because it supplies them with food, shelter, medicines, and plays a significant part in the spiritual lives of people.
These houses had been abandoned due to seasonal flooding, however, the community re-built itself directly across the river on the other bank.
Try to imagine what it would be like if the streets in your town were covered in water.
However, people and cultures in the rainforest are changing quickly. As new groups of people move into the rainforest in search of work, they are having a significant impact on the forest. Large farms, logging, oil exploration, and settlements are disrupting the traditional way of life in the rainforest. Native, or indigenous, people of the rainforest are faced with having to choose between traditional life and modern lifestyles. However, for most indigenous people, life today is a blend of traditional ways and modern conveniences. The process of changing from a traditional way of life to a modern one is called modernization.
Life along the Amazon River is changing quickly. Slash and burn agriculture provides grazing land for cows. However, can you think of some of the negative factors slash and burn agriculture might have on the ecosystem?
Instead of wearing traditional clothes from materials found in the rainforest (like loin cloths and grass skirts), most indigenous Amazonians wear clothes similar to you and me. People mostly wear t-shirts, shorts, and pants that have been imported from cities. Most people use metal pots, pans, and utensils for everyday life, which are also brought in from outside the rainforest.
Today, almost no native groups rely only on gathering food by traditional hunting and gathering. Nearly all groups have farms where they grow crops like fruits, yucca (a potato-like food), corn, rice, and other vegetables. Hunting and fishing provide meat for families. However, today, it is more common to see people hunting with rifles than the traditional blowdart gun.
The kids in Peru love to laugh, smile, and play with their friends, just like kids anywhere else.
On Monday, we should cross into Brazil. The Brazilian Amazon is home to between 280,000 and 350,000 indigenous people, of which 180,000 live traditionally. The rainforest in Brazil is much more remote than that in Peru. These people depend on the ancient forest for their sustenance and spiritual and cultural life. In Peru, it is believed that there are eleven groups of people who have very limited or no contact with the outside world. In Brazil the number of un-contacted groups or tribes is thought to be over thirty. We probably won’t meet any people living in a completely traditional manner, because for the most part, they live off the main river. It takes days or weeks to travel deep enough into the rainforest to meet these people.