Matsés people
 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (approx. 3,200 (various post-2000 est.)) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Matsés Indigenous Reserve: approx. 2,000, | |
| Languages | |
| Matsés, many also speak Spanish or Portuguese. | |
| Religion | |
| Christian, Animist | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Matis, Korubo |
The Matsés or Mayoruna are an indigenous tribe of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon. The tribe's ancestral lands are currently being encroached by illegal logging practices and poaching. These homelands are located between the Javari and Galvez rivers. The Matsés have guarded their lands from both other indigenous tribes and outsider colonials.
The approximately 3,200 Matsés people speak the Matsés language which belongs to the Panoan language family. In the last thirty years, they have become a largely settled people living mostly in permanent forest settlements. However, they still rely on hunting and gathering for most of their subsistence. Their main source of income comes from selling peccary hides and meat.
Name
The word Matsés comes from the word for "people" in the Matsés language. They are also known as the Mayoruna. The name Mayoruna comes from the Quechua (Runa Simi) language and means "river people." In Brazil the Matsés people are generally referred to as Mayorunas, while in Peru they are usually called Matsés.
Technology
The Matsés have an elaborate knowledge of the plant and animal life of the surrounding rainforest. Little is imported into the Matsés communities and most of what they need for survival comes from the rainforest. Traditionally, they hunted with bows and arrows.
Culture
Their cuisine includes the sweet plaintain beverage chapo.
Worldview
In the animist Matsés worldview, there is no distinction between the physical and spiritual worlds and spirits are present throughout the world. The Matsés believe that animal spirits determine health and success in hunting. They are careful not to offend animal spirits and have many taboos for hunting different animal species.
Plants, especially trees, hold a complex and important interest for the Matsés. Each plant is associated with an animal spirit. When a plant product is used as a medicine, it is typically applied externally and the shaman talks to the animal spirit associated with that plant.
Weapons
Bows and Arrows are the main weapons of the Matsés culture, although they are currently rarely used in personal conflict. Generally they are only used for hunting animals. The Matsés were never known to use war clubs as do the neighboring Korubo. Historically, they used blowguns, similar to the Matis tribe of Brazil; however, they recently abandoned blowguns in favor of bows and arrows.
Marriage
Matsés families often practice polygamy. Cross-cousin marriages are most common. Marriages are primarily between cousins, with a man marrying the daughter of his father’s sister (his aunt).
Recent history
The Matsés made their first permanent contact with the outside world in 1969 when they accepted SIL missionaries into their communities. Before that date, they were in effect at warfare with the Peruvian government which had bombed their villages with napalm and sent the Peruvian army to invade their communities. Dan James Pantone and Bjorn Svensson wrote an article about how the Matsés made peaceful contact with the outside world in the Native Planet Journal called "Matsés First Contact: The End of Isolation" . At present, relations between the Matsés people and the Peruvian government are very peaceful.
Indigenous political reorganization
The Matsés are very divided and politically unorganized. Each village has its own chief and there is little centralized authority for the tribe. Lack of political organization has made it difficult for the Matsés people to obtain medical assistance from the outside world.
Land rights
The Matsés have title to the Matsés Indigenous Reserve that was established in 1998. The reserve measures 457000 ha. Despite having title to their own reserve, living conditions for the Matsés have deteriorated. According to a recent article in Cultural Survival Quarterly by Dan James Pantone, living conditions have become much worse, to the point that the very survival of the Matsés people is in jeopardy . At present, there is a proposal to expand the Matsés Communal Reserve to give the Matsés people control over their traditional hunting grounds.
Logging controversy
In September of 2013, the Matsés chief announced plans to start logging the Matsés Native Community lands and rejected environmental organisations that he claims are manipulating Matsés students . In response, Matsés students said that the chief is being manipulated by loggers and demanded that the Matsés chief be sacked for not knowing how to defend the interests of his people .
Municipality corruption
To make matters more complex for the Matsés people, in September of 2013 the Matsés mayor (Andres Rodriquez Lopez) of the Yaquerana District was publicly accused of corruption by the municipal regulators who blocked his ability to use the municipal checking account . The municipality where the Matsés live has had a history of fraud and the ex-mayor, Helen Ruiz Torres, was sentenced to six years in jail for embezzling municipal funds .
Conservation Efforts
Acaté Amazon Conservation
Founded in 2013, but loosely organized since 2006 by its founders, Christopher Herndon, MD and William Park, Acaté operates projects in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. Acaté integrates culture, health, and ecology into all of its projects. As a non-profit, real, measurable, and transparent progress drives every one of our initiatives; each is assessed for impact, sustainability, and accountability. Current projects at Acaté include documenting and preserving the indigenous medicinal knowledge of the Matsés by completing the first traditional medicine encyclopedia written in the Matsés language, resiliency projects/programs utilizing permaculture techniques, and providing the Matsés economic opportunities with renewable non-timber natural products.
See also
- Nu-nu, a snuff used by Matsés men
References
- Romanov S., D.M. Huanan, F.S. Uaqui, and D.W. Fleck. The Traditional Life of the Matsés. CAAAP Press: Lima, Peru. 148 pp.
External links
Additional Resources
-
"Mayoruna Indians". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. - New Amazonian reserve saves over a million acres in Peru
- Mayoruna art, National Museum of the American Indian
- Matsés Indigenous Traditions
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