The Puyanawa

Like many towns in Acre, the Puyanawa suffered greatly from the boom in rubber extraction in the region in the early 20th century. Since the first contacts with non-indigenous people, many have died in direct confrontations or from diseases contracted during the colonization process. . The survivors were forced to work in the rubber extraction zones – the seringais – and quickly saw their way of life decimated due to the methods used by the “rubber barons” to keep the Indians working under their yoke. They were expelled from the land, missionized and educated in schools that prohibited any expression of any trace of their culture. Just with the beginning of the demarcation process of its territory, the culture Puyanawa was again valued by the indigenous people themselves , who have worked hard to regain their native language, a difficult task given the small number of speakers left. Available population information indicates that there were between 200 and 300 in the region in 1908. Data from 1920 to 1927 indicate a population of 125 people in the Barão rubber extraction area as well. Other information also recorded in the 1980s relates that during this period only the elderly knew how to make baskets, bows and arrows, body ornaments, sleeping hammocks and clay pots . These last objects were manufactured for domestic and religious purposes. In the past there was a container designed to “cook the dead.”

( Katukina Tribe )

First contact

The first attempt to contact the Puyanawa was in 1901, after the indigenous people took items belonging to the rubber tappers of the region. Colonel Mâncio Lima therefore organized an expedition that included three indigenous guides. For eleven days they walked through the forest in search of the Indians. They were unable to locate them, although they discovered recent signs of occupation every day. They found thirteen large farm fields and five huts where they left gifts. In 1904, the Indians again entered the rubber tappers’ houses and took tools, clothing, etc. This time some of them found themselves on a road and could not flee. They showed them the way to town, but when they arrived, it was already empty. Ten days later, in a new attempt, they arrived and found the town burned to the ground. Therefore, they decided to travel upriver on the Juruá River with the aim of bringing something from Yaminawa to help them attract the Indians, but the trip was unsuccessful. At the end of the same year a new expedition was organized, this time successful, during which they spent a night among the Puyanawa. Subsequently, Colonel Mâncio Lima requested the government’s support to catechize the indigenous people who lived in the center of his rubber extraction zone for ten years.

According to the elders, shortly before they were contacted, they had been divided because the number of people had increased. Those who stayed in the Preto creek were located by the attraction team led by Antonio Bastos. The indigenous people remember that they were inside the maloca when they were surprised by shouts in their own language telling them not to run. The two doors of the maloca were closed, but the frightened women managed to escape with almost all the children. The next day, the men went to look for them in the forest. Some time later, they were all led to the Bom Jardim stream, a tributary of the Moa, where they cleared two slashes. They stayed at this site for only one year before being transferred to the Maloca stream at the Barão do Rio Branco farm. In 1913, Colonel Mâncio Lima was informed of the presence of indigenous people in the region by an owner of a rubber extraction zone in Riozinho. An expedition was sent, this time with the participation of the Puyanawa. They managed to attract the Napoleão group, which was also brought to the Maloca group.

( Ashaninka Tribe )

Pacification

In describing the ‘pacification’ of the indigenous people in the department of Juruá, Mayor Rego Barros stated in his 1914 report that Antonio Bastos “[…] had persuaded more than eight hundred forest natives to establish friendly relations with the rubber tappers, allowing expansion in the area that is being explored by the extractive industry. Meanwhile, the manager [Mâncio Lima] – whose rubber production was interrupted by indigenous neighbors – after another 12 years of effort and a large expenditure of money, he managed to approach them with the help of Antonio Bastos and then locate more than 150 people from Poyanawa. tribe on their Barão do Rio Branco farm on the Moa River. Some had beautiful physiques and some of them were much taller than usual among indigenous peoples. ” The indigenous people remained at the Barão do Rio Branco farm for a short time as they did not adapt to the new location for various reasons, one of which was forced labor, which caused the group to flee. Only one man could not escape as he was in the Bom Jardim stream. They forced him to follow the trail left by the group, which had split into three. Even so, they were located again. During the capture, Mâncio Lima’s henchman shot Tuxaua Napoleão in cold blood. After the leader’s death, the group dispersed across the Blue River . The other two groups were found and taken to the rubber extraction area. Eventually, the scattered group was located by chance as Puyanawa had used various tricks to fool the tracker. After being captured, the men were flogged and led to the Maloca stream. As soon as they arrived, a measles epidemic decimated large numbers of indigenous people. Those who survived were transferred to the rubber settlement of Ipiranga.

( Bororo Tribe )

Liberty

After the death of Colonel Mâncio Lima in 1950 and the subsequent decline of the Barão do Rio Branco rubber extraction zone, the Puyanawa were finally freed from slavery. It was only after this change that they made farmland for their families, something they had been prevented from doing until then. They continued to produce rubber, despite the crisis in the rubber economy in the region, but they were still forced to pay for the use of the rubber roads to the heirs of the former seringal owner. The payment of the “rubber highway toll” meant that they had no right to any part of their former territories, and thus continued to live on their land as trespassers.

Cultural aspects

Facial tattoos are common to several wide-speaking peoples. The priest Tastevin reported in the early 20th century that tattoos among the Puyanawa comprised a line extending from the mouth to the earlobe with small vertical lines above the main line. There was a blue color over the tattoo and around the laps. The tattoos were applied to children between the ages of eight and ten, usually by older people . In the 1980s, there were still three Puyanawa Indians with facial tattoos. According to Tastevin, the Puyanawa cooked the corpses of the dead for ten to twelve hours, dancing and crying. The leader divided the pieces of the deceased’s meat among the relatives and other indigenous people who participated in the ritual. These containers incinerated the pieces of meat and mixed the ashes with caiçuma (corn drink with peanuts), which were then ingested with the aim of incorporating the qualities of the deceased.

( Marubo Tribe )