Uitoto: Crowns, river and maloka Print

The Uitoto inhabit the southern area of ​​the Colombian Amazon. In the department of Amazonas they live in the Caquetá, Putumayo, Igará-Paraná and Cará-Paraná rivers. In the Department of Putumayo they are located on the middle course of the Putumayo River, to the west of the Putumayo Property Reservation. In the Department of Caquetá they are found on the river of the same name, somewhat isolated from the rest of the group, because of the Araracuara rapids. There is also a Uitoto population in Peru. Ethnicity is related to the Ocaina and Muinane groups.1 “The entire Huitoto culture revolves around the maloca, where rituals, dances, songs, and traditional festivals are celebrated. The maloca is the axis of social life, the "temple" of rituals and the mosaic of symbolism, around which all the activities and characteristics of the Huitoto culture revolve. The malocas "cathedrals of the Amazon rainforest" (Palacio, 1989, p. 164) are the multi-family houses that most of the peoples of the Amazon are accustomed to build near the banks of the streams or rivers. The base of the construction of the malocas are wooden posts of «bociai» or «gofaico», species of hardwood trees with black hearts. Nuizirai, the crown: it is made according to the specific festivals; the most beautiful and striking uses abundant parrot and hawk feathers. The crowns used in dances are like the rays of the sun. To rise to the sky to become the sun, the man puts on a crown of macaw feathers. " (Tagliani, 1992) 2 1 Arango y Sánchez. Los pueblos indígenas de Colombia en el umbral del nuevo milenio. Departamento Nacional de Planeación. Bogotá. 2 Tagliani, Lino. Mitología y cultura Huitoto. Abyala-yala, Ecuador, 1992. Palacio Asensio, Jose Luis. Nuestro pasado, FCUNAE, Quito, 1989.