Nukak People

An indigenous population of what used to be a few thousand, has been nearly wiped out.

Where are they?

They live between the Guaviare and Inírida Rivers in south east Columbia, near the Amazon. The Nukak survive as hunter gatherers among the trees.

This is how they traditionally have lived; however, in recent years, their lives have dramatically changed due to war and drugs.

• The native language of the Nukak people is the Maku language.
• Their language is a dialect of the Nadahup language.
• Six oral, six nasal vowels and eleven consonant phonemes
• They have rising and falling tones, with unaccented vowels expressing the low tones, accompanied by lengthening of the vowel.

Marriage in the Tribe:

Mating among the Nukak

• The Nukak people practice mainly cross-cousin marriage, while parallel cousin marriage is forbidden.
• Although having more than one wife is allowed, males will typically have only one wife.
• That marriage is only established after the man has wooed a woman with gifts and she agrees to live with him (formal courting).
• Patrilocality

Women while pregnant sometimes practice a form of polyandry to ensure proper growth of the child while in the womb.

Food in the Tribe and the Role

of Each Gender

The Nukak men use blowpipes with darts laced with Curare, a poison made of plants found in the Amazon, for hunting. It acts as a muscle relaxant and can lead to death by asphyxiation from paralysis.

They eat mainly fish, monkeys, fruits, nuts, insects, through hunting with a small emphasis on horticulture.

Women of the Nukak are very much the typical maternal figure- they stay close to home camp, caring for the children and are involced in food prep.

1988-Present: The Nukak Now

In 1988, a group of 40 Nukak individuals appeared in the (at the time) new colony town of Calamar. This sparked an uproar in the Colombian press, even though the area was actually considered their ancestral land.

Fortunately, in 1993, "the Colombian government finally recognized the tribe’s right to their ancestral land. The ‘Nukak Reserve’ was expanded in 1997 to encompass almost 1 million hectares of forest."

This would start a vicious cycle of inquisitive outsiders encroaching on their land, drug wars, and the decimation of their groups population, forcing them out o the forest.

Albeit being a rough estimate, researchers believe that around 50% of the Nukak left live in settlements on the outskirts of the San Jose del Gauviare.

The local government organization called Accoin Social often sends food rations. Usually not enough to feed everyone and at times never shows.

With no motivation to get jobs or assimilate into the society around them, the Nukak just sit and wait.

For the sake of this culture, any kind of help is appreciated.

Work Cited:

"The Nukak." Survival International. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.

Wirspa, , Leslie, and Hector. "Resettlement of the Nukak Indians, Colombia." Cultural Survival. N.p., 1988. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.

Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

South-east Columbia

Between Guaviare

and Inirida Rivers

Nukak Indians

Nukak Maku

Voice of the People:

The Language of the Nukak