Mythologies of the Bora Tribe
One of the primary tourist attractions in Iquitos is the Bora Indians who live near San Andrés Village on the Nanay River. Many tourists visit them and see them dance, but few get to really know the Boras and their culture. Who are these indigenous people and how did they come to live near Iquitos? The Bora native community consists of about 3,000 native-speakers almost all living in Peru (about 2000 individuals) and Colombia (about 1000 people), although several Bora villages exist in Brazil. Unfortunately, the Brazilian Boras no longer speak their native language having been largely assimilated into the Brazilian culture. The Bora language is closely aligned with Huitoto (Witoto). The Bora tribe is divided into different clans, typically represented by an animal. They paint their faces with different designs with huito (Genipa americana), depending upon their clan. Intermarriage with the same clan is prohibited, thus preventing interbreeding and genetic aberrations within small communities. Traditionally, the Boras Indians do not dance as they do for tourists in Iquitos. Instead they use large (six foot) batons that they pound in unison on the ground as they dance. The batons typically have shells attached to them that add to the musical harmony. I first witnessed traditional Bora native dances in Colombia near Leticia where they often spend the whole night dancing in their ceremonies. One authentic item you can view at the Bora native community in Iquitos is the Manguaré drum. Manguaré drums have different forms, depending on whether they are male or female, and are used in some Bora ceremonies. In addition, you can see traditional bark cloth that the Boras make by pounding the bark of a palm tree. The Boras peel strips of bark from the tree and pound it with a wooden hammer. After they wet and pound it until the outer bark disintegrates, only the inner bark is left. The inner bark is the natural fiber used for traditional Bora clothing. The bark clothes have a coarse, inflexible look and the texture of burlap. The bark clothing is colored with natural dyes. Yellow colors are obtained from a ginger plant and black from pressed green fruits of the huito tree. The huito liquid is clear when first painted, but later turns black as it is oxidized by the air.
which is a tributary of the Amazon. Historically enemies with the Huitoto (we-toe-toe) Indians, they have in recent times become close allies with adjoining villages and frequent intermarriage. They are artistically talented tribes, making masks, dolls, rattles, blowguns etc. Many of their crafts are made of bark cloth decorated with vegetable dyes. The bark cloth is made of the inner bark of a fig tree and is beaten until it is paper or cloth like. From the bark cloth they make their clothing which consists of a short skirt for both men and women in the Huitoto. There is a type of palm tree used the make the twine used in bags and hammocks. The Huitoto women traditionally go bare breasted. The Bora tribe dresses similarly, but the women wear a dress of bark cloth as opposed to just a skirt. Both sexes in both tribes wear necklaces, feathers and sometimes white body paint or red body paint made of onoto or urucu which is a pod that crushes
to a reddish paste.
The Bora speak a Witotan language and comprise approximately 2,000 people. In the last forty years, the Bora have become a largely settled people living mostly in permanent forest settlements. The animist Bora worldview makes no distinction between the physical and spiritual worlds, and spirits are considered to be present throughout the world. Bora families practice exogamy. The Bora have an elaborate knowledge of the plant life of the surrounding rainforest. Like other indigenous peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, such as the Urarina, plants, especially trees, hold a complex and important interest for the Bora. Bows and arrows are the main weapons of the Bora culture used in person to person conflict. The Bora have guarded their lands from both indigenous foes and outsider colonials. Around the time of the 20th century, the rubber boom and Putumayo genocide had a devastating impact on the Boras, which suffered enslavement, physical abuse, and other detriments to their population. An unknown number of Bora people fled across the Caqueta River during this time period. Hundreds of Boras were enslaved at rubber stations belonging to Julio César Arana's rubber company, specifically the stations of Entre Rios, La Sabana, Santa Catalina and Abisinia. The Bora tribe's ancestral lands are currently threatened by illegal logging practices. The Bora have no indigenous reserves.
The Bora inhabit the upper Amazonian basin, between the Putumayo and Napo rivers--two important Amazonin tributaries. Little is known about their history intil the 20th century. They are one of the more familiar of the Amazonian tribes. This is in part because the Boa live close to San Andrés, a village near Iquitos. Iquitos in northwestrn Peru is the gateway to the upper Amazon, visited by adventure seeking tourists. And one of the attractions is the Bora who live on the Nanay River, an Amazonian tributary. The Bora language is related to Huitoto (Witoto). The Bora the tourists see, however, have been increasingly assisilated into Latin American culture. The tourists are treated to a dance thast has noting to do with the Bora, but tourists expect to see Native Americans dancing. The traditional Bora dancing is done with large wooden batons often with shells attached which they pound in unison as they dance. There ae also drums. Men and women have their own destibctive drums. Real dances can go on all night. About 3,000 Bora have survived to the modern age. The early-20th century rubber boom had a major impact on the Bora who were enslaved by the Peruvian rubber barrons. Most live in Peru and a smaller number to the north in Colombia. The further from Iquitos, the less affected they are by Peruvian and Colonian culture. The exception here is the Bora villasges in Brazil, the people there now speak Portuguese and have been largely assimilted. The Bora are organized into clans which have acquired mosrly animal names. Like many Amazonian tribes, they commonly paint their faces eith clsn motifs. They use the huito plant (Genipa americana). They have to marry outside the clan. Before modern times the Bora made cloth from bark for their clothing. They use thee bark of palm trees which they pound to make the cloth.
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