to view the history and legends of The Embera Chami

t
T
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
ti
T
I
t
I
The Emberf
Chamf Documents
In Decemberof 2007, the Colombia SupportNetwork chapterfrom KansasCity, Missouri
traveled to southernColombia. The purposeof the trip was to establisha "sister community"
relationship with the Ember6Chami people, who live in three small towns northwestof
El Tigre, in the Putumayo Department.
One of the interestsexpressedby the Emberd Chami was to record the legendsand storiesof
their indigenousgroup, so before we left we provided them with cassettetape recorders,
tapesand batteriesto recordstheir legendsand history.
In July of 2008, Cecilia Zarate,the National ProgramDirector of CSN visited Bogot6.
Ancizar Gutierrez, a member of the Ember6 Chami community traveled by bus from the
Putumayoto meet with her there. He presentedher with 65 hand-written pagesin Spanish,
plus audio tapesin the Embeni Chami language.
Those documentswere sent to KansasCity, where :urangementswere made for a group of
studentsand faculty membersfrom Truman StateUniversity, Kirksville, MO, to take on the
job of translatingthe documentsinto English. Rachel Hogan brought togethera committee of
severalSpanish-speakingstudentsat Truman, along with faculty membersand others
(including one Colombian, the wife of the Truman SoccerCoach), to work on the project.
Sister Community Arrangementand Delegation Planning by:
Cecilia Zarate,Colombia Support Network, and
FatherCampoElias De LaCruz, Dioceseof Mocoa-Sibundoy
KansasCity Delegation members:
Jonne long
Dave Davis
Maria Pelto
Ann Suellentrop(Bogotl portion only)
Bob Thatch
CONTENTS
lntroduction...............
...........1
......................3
OriginLegend
........5
Origin Story, Extended
Jinopot6....
..........7
...........1I
Origin of the Plantain(Banana)
...............14
Originof Water...
Historical Review, La Italia
20-35
(Copiesof severalQ&A and Emails follow page35)
I
I
I
I
t
I
I
t
I
t
I
I
I
t
I
I
t
t
I
Introduction to the text
Thesedocumentscontain severalcultural myths, histories, and legendsof the Ember6Chami people, an indigenousgroup that lives in Colombia. Although many ethnic Embeni
groups live in various Latin American countries that stretchfrom Panamato Peru, the Ember6Chamf live only in Colombia'. The Embeni-Chami people belong to the ethnic and linguistic
family of Choc6, a denominationthat includes the Emberil and Waunanapeople, who also live in
parts of Panamaand Colombia2. Although today there are approximately 80,000 ethnic Emberd
living in Panama,Colombia and Peru, only I f ,OOO
Emberd-Chamiremain. These 11,000make
up a small part of the indigenouspopulation of Colombia, which exceedsone million people.
As part of a growing empire, the original Ember6 inhabitantsof Colombia lived along the
northem parts of the coast,in an areawhich comprisesthe present-daydepartmentsof Antioquia,
Valle de Caucaand Choc6. With the arrival of Spanishsettlersand the development,the empire
diminished. Through various transitions,the Ember6-Chamicommunity continued to occupy
northem territories along the coastbut the 1970sbrought conflict to the areaand led to a further
division among the Ember6 community. Some Embenl-Chami groups immigrated to the
southemdepartmentsof Putumayo,Caquet6,Meta and Santander3.By and large, the Ember6Chami people live on reservations;each legally protectedfrom seizureand guaranteedcertain
sovereignrights by the Colombian governmenta.
Recently, the Emberd-Chamfgroups that migrated to thesesoutherndistricts formed a
sister community with the KansasCity chapterof the grassrootsorganization The Colombia
Aspectoseducativos".CiudadVirnralde
' Romerol-oaizaFernando."ta oralidady la escrituraentrelos Ember6-Chami:
Antropoloeia], Arqueloqia.26 dejunio de2007. EquipoNaya. 20 de octubrede 2008.
http://wrvw.naya.org.arlconereso2002/ponencias/fernando_romero_loaiza3.htm>
de Cristiania.Medellin,Colombia:
'lpdoio Femiindez,MarfaEugenia.la mrisicaen la comunidadindieenaEbera-Chami
EditorialUniversidadde Antioquia,2000.
3 lodono Femandez,14
o
lodoffo Femrindez1l
Support Network. Dialogue betweenthe two communities led to this documentationof the
cultural myths and detailed history of the Ember6-Chamfgroups who now live in the Putumayo
departmentof Colombia.
At times, the narration of thesehistories or legendsis intemrpted or disjointed. There are
many switchesmid-sentencein subject or gender. These"errors" are likely due to the nature of
how thesedocumentswere created:first, recordedin Emberd and then transcribedand translated
into Spanishbybilingual membersof the community. However, theseinegularities are also
products of cultural difference. Firstly, altfroughthere are ongoing efforts to implement a written
system,the Emberd languageremainsprimarily an oral languages. What a Westernreadermay
perceive as confusedspeechis partly due to the difference in how things are expressedin an oral
languageinsteadof a written language.
Furthermore,the strugglesthat any readermay experiencewhen reading the texts are
consequencesof a decision made by the translating team to preservethe texts as much as
possible. In an effort to keep thesetexts authentic and to highlight the cultural differencesin
how the Ember6-Chamicommunity tells a story, the translatorsrefrained from regularizing or
anglicizing the stories. Instead,there are many footnotes and commentariesprovided alongside
the text to help explain the texts to a readerunfamiliar with the culture, region and language.
- Romerol-oaiza.26
I
I
I
I
I
I
t
t
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
The Oriein Leeend
The origin story of the Emberd people details the emergenceof the main deity of the Emberd,
called both Caragabi and Carabi (in other stories Karabi). This god Carogabi, the ruler of the
world, was wise and powerful and gained more power by defeating his father in battle. Upon
discovering the existence of more worlds, Caragabi and Trutuica (Tutruica), the ruler of one of
the worlds below mgaged in many battles. To establish a lasting peace, Caragabi challenged
Trutuica to a trial of"fire. The two gods both demonstratedthe sameability to withstand the heat
of thefire and so they decided that each should govern his own world.
Examining the social organization of the Ember6people and consulting some of the
traditional sourcesabout its creation myth, it seemsthat it was a man and three women that gave
rise to the Ember6people. Thesewomen transformedthemselvesinto animals that they consider
sacredand at the sametime, they are the fundamentalforms of the three main clans of the
Ember6. The women transformed themselves into the fish, the snake, and the frog, while the
male human being ascendsto heaven.
Other versionstell a different myth, which refers to the battle betweentwo gods of
different worlds. ln the theogony6of the Ember6,there is a pre-existing god called Tatzitzetze,
which means the first father or father of all people, who has no beginning and who created
himself. From the saliva of this god sprang Carugabi7,masterof this world where the Ember6
live.
Caragabiis attributed much wisdom, which he gained rapidly and then rose up in arms
againsthis father...*8. [n this battle, the son defeatedthe father and becamethe masterof our
t
Theogonyrefersto the origin or genealogyofthe gods
7
Caragabi,
alsocalledKarabiin theselegends,is the main deity of the Ember6people.
8
'
In the originalversion,this thought is followedby "porquetodo lo daba muy barato",meaning"becauseall he
gavewas very cheap". lt is unclearto the translatorswhat exactlythis meansin the context. lt is possiblethat the
from Ember6to Spanish.
speakermistranslated
planet although it is assuredthat there exist four other worlds above this one and the same
number below, with their respectivegods.
n...A
challengeto Tutruica, which consistedin finding out which of the two could
withstand the most heat and for the longest time. Tutruica acceptedwithout hesitation and they
built an immenseoven that Caragabfentered. Then, Tutruica placed inside it all the wood he
could find and sealedthe oven for one whole day. At the end, Caragabiemerged,dressedin
braceletsand necklacesmade of goldlo and letting his long hair fall around his shoulders. In the
end, he had withstood the test of fire.
Now, it was Tutruica's turn, and as before, Caragabfplaced inside all the wood he could
find and left Tutruica inside the sealedoven for a whole day. However, upon opening the oven,
Tutruica also emerged,making the two gods even.
Afterwards, the gods carried out other trials but the gods always tied. In the end, the two
decidedto allow eachone to govern his own world.
t
Thereseemedto be a jump in the storylinefrom one pageof the originalversionto the next. In an alternate
versionof thisstory,thereis moredevelopment
of the plot beforethe presentation
of the challenge.
10
Theoriginalword is "chaguiras",
whichrefersto traditionaladornments,
sometimes
in the form of necklaces,
bracelets,
earrings,
that are (generally
brightlycolored)beadswovenin elaboratepatterns.
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
Origin Storv (Extended version)
Upon examining the social organizationof the Ember6 community and in referenceto
traditions about the creation myth, it seemsthat it was a man and three women that gave rise to
the Ember6people. Thesewomen transformedinto animals that are consideredsacred. At the
sametime, they becamethe three main clans of the Ember6people. The women were converted
into the fish, the snake,and the frog, while the male being ascendedto heaven.
Other versions tell a different myth, which refers to the battle betweentwo gods of
different worlds. In the theogonyrr of the Emberd,there is a pre-existing god called Tatzitzetze,
meaningthe first father or father of all, who has no start and createdhimself. From the saliva of
this god came Caragabf,who is the ruler of this world where the Ember6live.
Carabi is attributed much wisdom, which he gained rapidly and then rose up in arms
againsthis father.. . *12. In this battle, the son defeatedhis father and remainedruler of our
planet, although they ascertainedthat there exist four worlds above this one and anotherbelow,
eachwith their own gods.
Beneaththis world, anotherexists that is the domain of Trutuica, who createdhimself.
They say thesetwo gods lived a long time without knowing eachother. One day, the god from
above saw a small globe and went down to seewhat it was and in this way, they two gods met
eachother, which causedmany battles and disputes. It is not clear how their battles started. If
Carabi had won, the people of this world would be immortal. The world of Carabi was much
t
I
I
I
" Theogonyrefersto the originor genealogyofthe gods
tt
As before,in the transcribedversion,it is very unclear.The thought is followedby "porquetodo lo dabamuy '
barato",meaning"becauseall he gavewas very cheap". lt is unclearto the translatorswhat exactlythis meansin
from Emberdto Spanish.
the context. lt is possiblethat the speakermistranslated
more beautiful than that of Trutuical3. For this reason.the secondenvied the first. The women
of this world were much more beautiful than those of the world below. in order to marrv themla.
Carabi becamefurious and threatenedTrutuica with considerableretaliations. At the end,
this one realizedhis bad action and forbade those of the lower world to bother the world above.
But the peacebetweenthesetwo gods was not secure.
ln this way, Carabf offered a challengedto Trutuica, which consistedof the most heat for
the most time. Tutruica acceptedwithout hesitation and they built an immenseoven that Carabi
entered. Then Tufiuica placed inside it all ihe wood he could find and sealedthe oven for one
day. At the end, Carabf emergedadornedhis entire body with braceletsand necklacesl5made of
gold and letting his long hair fall around his shoulders. At the end, he had withstood the test of
fire.
Now, it was Tutruica's turn, and as before, Carabi placed inside all the firewood he could
find and left Tutruica inside the sealedoven for a whole day. However, upon opening the oven,
Tutruica also emergedtriumphant, once again making the two gods even.
Afterwards, they carried out other trials but the two gods always tied. In the end, the two
decidedto allow eachone to govern his own world.
t'There
aretwo versions
of thisoriginstory.Thefirstcallsthisgod"Tutruica"
andlateron in thisversion,
the
it isalso
namechanges
to Tutruica.lt is possible
that the godis calledbothTutruicaandTrutuica.However,
possible
that the appearance
of Trutuicaisan erroron the partof the transcriber.
1a possible
lt is
Trutuica
triedto win the womenof Carabi's
worldin
that thoseof the lowerworld,including
a lastingpeace.
marriage
andthisangered
Carabiso muchthat the godsdecidedupona finaltrialto establish
15
in the form of necklace5
Theoriginalword is "chaquiras",
whichrefersto traditionaladornments,
sometimes
bracelets,
earrings,
that are(generally
brightlycolored)beadswovenin elaboratepatterns.
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
l
I
I
I
I
t
Jinopot6. Son of the Leg
Jinopot6 is a mythical character who is born out of hisfather's leg and left orphaned. He
begins to seekvengeancefor his mother and each time the villagers tell him who the culprit is,
Jinopot6 setsout to kilt this being. SinceJinopoto is never satisfied, he continuesto seekhis
mother's killer evenafier killing the tiger, a seven-headedsnake and the gods, called the
Chaverara. Finally, the villagers lead him to believe that the poisonous bumblebeekilled his
mother and in thisconfrontation, Jinopot6 is kitled and turned into the bloodsuckinginsectsof
this world.
I,m going to tell you what happenedto Jinopot6, he who visited the Chaveraral6. It is
when a story that is analyzedemergesas history. It turns out that there was a boy who was very
scaredof the lizardtTand always ran when he saw it. But once, when he was fishing, he was not
paymg attention and the lizardstuck onto his leg. The leg began to swell to a point that the
Ember6call'Jinopo". The man, frightened, went home but the leg was already pregnantand the
leg began to grow until nine months later, it had a son and the man died from the pain.
The boy grew up and at about age 15, he beganto ask,
"Who killed mymother?"
'Your mother, the tiger killed hi.tt",
sometold him.
Jinopot6 pursued the tiger until he had killed it and then started to ask again who killed
my mother.
"Your mother. the moon killed him", someonetold him.
"If the moon killed my mother, I am going to climb up there"'
tuTheChaverara
appearto be divinebeings,thosethat do not eatand livein the heavens
tt Asit appeared
smalllizardandusuallylives
meaning
version,
thisanimalisthe "lagartija",
in the originalSpanish
lizard".
"wall
the
name
of
gaining
its
colloquial
in the walls,
1tIn the originaltext,the genderswitchesfrom feminineto masculine
multipletimes.
The boy beganto constructa ladder that had the form of a guadua'nbox. He climbed and
climbed and after two months, he was close to the moon but men brought the Truenene,the
woodpeckerbird, one which is very small and reddish and lives by pecking at the trees,so that
Jinopot6 could not go up to the moon.
When Jinopot6 was taking ahold2Oof the moon, the Truenene2lbeganto knock down the
guadualadder and the boy barely managedto touch the face of the moon. Becauseof this, we
say that the moon turned half gray, and half striped.
Jinopot6 beganto make fun of thsair, saying out loud that he would transform himself
into Tukuno wood, in order to come down slowly. But, when he was near to the ground, he said
he would transform himself into manpoguara,into "lover's rock", which would sendhim into the
other world.
Thus, he went directly to hell, to the land of the chameleonand asked,
"Who killed mymother?"
"It is not known who killed your mother", they answeredhim.
Meanwhile, the boy was eating and he was offering food until a boy told him,
'Your mother, the sky killed her22."
So, Jinopot6 beganto rise and came to the place of the Chaverara,thosewho don't eat
food. There, there is much chontaduro23and they were cooking and they fed themselvesjust on
the steam. Jinopot6 began eating that fruit and the chaverara askedhim,
tt
Guaduais a type of treethat isverystrongandgrowsin the Amazon,similarto bamboo.Typically,
fruitsand
otherfoodsarestoredin guaduaboxes.
'o fn the originalversion,the word usedis "cegafta/',whichimpliesboththe effectof beingblindedby the moon
at the sametime asthe boyisgrabbingit.
birdthat hasblackfeatherswith a whitestripein its wingsandneck. ti feeds
" TheTruenenebirdis an Amazonian
off of insectsthat liveinsidetrees.
22
Again,thereis a changein gender,suggesting
thatthe mother'sgenderis ambiguous
or sheisa hermaphrodite.
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
'You, why do you eat that fruit and we don't?"
"If you want, I will cure you; operateon you so that you can be like me"
Then, he cameby a knife and beganto break them but since they were supernatural,they all died
and he flew away before the others could kill him. He retumed to this world and said that from
that moment on, he would only eat the menstrualblood of women. Becauseof that, everyone
wanted to kill him to such a point that they told him,
"Your mother, a snakewith sevenheadskilled her".
Jinopot6 got an oil lamp, firewood, knifes, and a bag and began to swim over the swamp,
over the water. And, truly, the snakeswallowed him, the people were content becausehe had
died. But, after three days, the snakebeganto give off smokebecausehe was standingup inside
the stomach of the snake and there, he made a bonfire with the dry firewood that had been
swallowed. And, he left by a path where he had placed a wedge so that the snakewould not
closeit.
The snake died and Jinopot6 rose up againto this land and continued questioning,
"'Who killed my mother?"
So finally, the people began to think of how to respondand who they could blame it on
and they decidedto tell him that the one responsiblefor the death of his mother was the
poisonousbumblebeeand the Abuimia that live in the beehives,inside of rotting branches. He
was a clever sort of personand he had only one door where he hung scissors.
"You killed my mother?" Jinopot6 askedthe bumblebee.
"No, I did not kill your mother, and don't come near me becauseI will kill you."
23
Chontadurois a type of Amazonianfruit, calledthe "fruit of the palm"
10
WhenJinopot6tried to get in throughthe door, the bumblebeekilled him, cutting open
his stomachwith the scissors.And thus,he2acontinuedtuming into flies, mosquitoesand
horsefliesto suckblood until his body disappeared.And that is how theseinsectscameto be in
the world andthis is why we say,Jinopotabarra.
2aThe
sublectis most likelyJinopot6in this casebut dueto the useof pronounsinsteadof specificnouns,it is
unclearwho turnedJinopot6into the insects.
I
I
I
Long ago, there was oneperson, the Muchilero bird, who owned all theplantains. He is
t
sometimescalled the colon or Colono although in Embera, he is called Kubarce. WhenKarabi
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
t7
The Oriein of the Plantain (Banana)
and his son discover the Muchilero bird and all his plantains, Karabi asl<s
for somestarts of the
plantains so that they too con grow them. Whenthe Muchilero bird refuses,they rob him
secretly of eight starts. Later, Karabi osksagain and when the Muchilero bird refusesthis time,
Karobi grabs him and he turns into a bird.
The "colon" was the owner of the plantaintree.Somecalledhim "Colono"25;otherssay
"Muchilero bird"26,he who makesa knapsack.In Emberd,we call him Kubarre. Once, Carabf
was living with his son; but there was no food. He was walking once and they arrived at a point
where there were a lot of plantains,hart6rf', uprimitive type of plantain, manzano2sand other
varieties of plantain.
"'Who could it be who lives here?" said Carabi, and walking, and they sensed2e
a
disagreeablesmell. "Who could it be who smellsso bad?"
Soon after, there was the animal, the Muchilero bird, but it was a person30,and he
smelledbad. And thus thev arrived.
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
"Listen; are you the owner of the plantain?"
"Yes, it is I, the owner of the plantain."
" Thisis the localnamefor the Orop6ndulabird. In this story,its synonymyincludesMuchilerobird, Kubarre,and
colon.
26
The Orop6ndulabird is nicknamedthe "knapsackbird" becauseof its nest,which is a woven basketnestthat
hangsfrom branches. The bird is nativeto the area;is hasyellowfeathersand blackwingsand tail. In cultural
that the bird hasa phallicconnotationdue to the look of its nest(it resembles
studies,it has been suggested
testicles).
tt
The translatorcould not find a directtranslationfor this plant that is the progenitorof the plantain.
" Manzanois a type of plantainthat growsin the region.
2s lt is unc lear i f
nstal ki ngaboutC arabi butthenchan gest o'
th e s w i tc h i n s u b j e c ti s i n te n tionalThepassagebegi
.
referto multiplepeoplewho sensedthe smell.
to
myths,the charactersare both animalsand persons.
ln many of the EmberS-Chami
L2
"And will you give me a start3lso that I can plant it?"
"No, I will not give my start; I won't sell it nor will I give it away."
Then Carabi said to his son,
"Eh! What are we going to do? Shall we rob him or shall we kill him to win that start?
You know what? We are going to kill him, but before, I think that he is sure to be
learned.Also he has to be a jaiban632.Also, becauseit might happento us as it did
with the Conga33,becausewe killed the Conga,and we could not take anything from
him; we had to wait a long time. And this start could tum into anothertree. So, it would
be better to pull up eight little startsfirst and kill the Muchilero later if he doesn't give us
the start."
In truth, one day they got back from doing that. Over there, they pulled up the startsand they
told the Muchilero:
"Listen up, are you going to give it to us or are you not going to give it to us?"
Becausebefore he didn't like to give away; it was for the Muchilero bird: I don't give
away nor do I sell. Then, Carabi grabbedhim by the nape of his neck and he was wrappedup in
a long yellowed bananaleaf, and that turned into the tail, a yellow tail, the body was a brownish
color and the beak was yellow, he transformedinto a bird.
Listen, when the Muchilero went to seethe bananastart, it was already a murrapo3o,a
small plantain: thus the murrapo came to be. For this reason,wherever the murrapo is, there that
bird lives. He liked to eat the fruit of the mrurapo, which comesout as a small flower. So. the
31
Theoriginalversionusedthe word "colino",whichrefersto a start,or youngshoot,of a bananatreethat is used
to propagatenewbananaplants
t'Jaiband
is a titleheldby someone
trainedin the waysof traditional
medicine
in the Ember6
community.
tt
In the "Originof wate/' Emberdmyth,the figureof the Congacontrolsthe watersandCarabitriesto trickthe
Congaintodivulging
wherethewatersarelocated.
*
Murrapoisa plantain
that belongs
to the familyCyclonthaceo
andis a species
thatgrowsin tropicalclimates.
t
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
t
'fro1sreqloussr 1et1l 'odermu eql s utqueld
eqlJo Jolsecusew l?ql r(eseulos'uos?eJsnnJoJ 'sodermureuoceqe^eqpFo \ surqtruld
peese peur?ruer
ewu?q srql l{pee ool pelctd ueeqpeq}qer?JJouets
erpil" 'louJl esneceq
I
I
I
I
t
I
TI
t
L4
The Oriein of Water
In creation time, the god Carabi traveled with hisfamily and on one occasion, thqtfind a woman
called Jenene, who controls all the water. Carabi tries to trick Jenend into telling him where the
water is; he spies on her and tries to make an imitation of the key she usesto open a rock and
accessthe water. Jeneni is very shrewd and realizes what Carabi is doing. Whenhe becomes
frustrated and nrns her into an ant, she has safeguarded the water. He and his family try to
chop down the tree where Jeneni has locked awsy the water. Finally, after many attempts to
beat the tree at a game, one of Carobi's family wins and the land is swamped with water. After it
all, Carabi changes hisfamily metnbers into animals so that thqt'can manage his land.
t
The rivers came from a tree which we call Jenen6. The time of Jenen6was the time of
the creation of the world. When Carabi beganto travel with his family, it was not he who made
the water. The river already existed, and it was controlled by a woman named The Conga,who
is now like an ant, but in that age was a large woman. For get-togethersand for ceremonies,
Carabi did not use water; insteadhe used a vine-like plant35called Agracia, from which he
extracteda tasty water. Of course,one cannot let his body get wet with it becauseit will start an
itch.
Carabfwastravelingwith the long-tailedmonkey,the black monkey,the squirrel,the
offer, the Tominejo36bird, the woodpecker3T,and the fox. He was walking with thesepeople
when he found a housein the jungle. They spied and caught a glimpse of a net38.
Then, Carabf said, "We're going to pay a visit to seewho lives there"
35
In the originaltext,the word is "bejuco",whichrefersto manyvarietiesof climbingvineplantsthat aretypically
usedto makebaskets.
36
TheTominejobird is a smallbrightlycolored(goldish-green)
birdof the Paseriformes
familythat livesin the
Amazonian
regionanddrink the nectarof flowers.lt is similarto a humming-bird.
37
ln the Amazonian
region,therearemanyspeciesof woodpecker,
called"carpintero"birds.
o
(asit appearsin the originaltext)is a wovenbasketor net andis smalland usedto catchfish.
The"chinchorro"
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
15
As they entered, they saw a very polite looking woman, who invited them to take a walk
around. They spenta while there and the woman offered them a meal of fish, guacoco3e,ffid
fresh-water fish, a fresh water mazamorrao0.
"Where did you catch this fish?" Carabi askedher.
"It's from river", she answered.
"Can you take me there, so that I can know the river?"
"No. You're a god, aren't you? You should know where there is water."
Carabi insisted,"No, you must take me so that I can know the water that I don't know,
and I want to swim."
He beggedher four times, but sherefusedto show him the river. Carabf looked for
themarwith his friends and nothing, nothing, there was absolutelynothing. They left the house
and made a little hut nearby, and the next day, went to seethe Conga again. She offered them a
meal of sabaletaaz,whichis a very tasty fish. They askedher:
"Where do you catch that fish?"
"In the river. Why do you bother me so much? I am not going to tell you anything."
Then Carabf told his friends:
"She weavesthat net."
Transformed into a louse, he hung offher hair, and he saw how she was making the net.
t
I
I
I
f
tt
Guacoco
is a localword for clam
t
Thisis a refreshing
drinkmostlikelymadewithfreshwaterandeithercornor rice.
al
Theriversor the waters
a2
Thescientificnameof the sabaleta
fishis theBryconrubricuodo.Thesabaletalivesin the Magdalena
Riverbasin
in Colombia.
Thecommonnamefor thisspecies
of fishis siibalo.Sabaleta
isalsothe nameof an Ember6
Chami
community.Seethe glossary
attachedfor picture.
16
"And I am going to teach you43how to weave but first I am going to turn into a Tominejo
bird, into a hummingbird, becauseI think that she always leavesto bathe and to catch fish
at midday; becauseshe has offered us fish in the afternoon."
Transformedinto a hummingbird, he watched how shewas taking a large key and was
opening a rock and from there, a mighty and beautiful river was emerging. She startedto swim
with the net and she caught in the net Carabf,who had turned into a sdbalo4 fish. She hit him on
the headwith a club and carried him contentedlyto the house. She gutted him and preparedhim
and left him to smoke,but the next day,the fish had disappeared. So then, she thought,
"Ahh, this tricksteraswho set me a trap was Carabf. Now he must know where I keep the
water. Ufl Now what do I do? Carabi will defeat me."
Carabi told his monkey son:
"We have to make an:xe and a key, becausethe Conga's key is very large and she is
very clever when sheopensthat rock. I am going to turn myself into a louse and I am
going to measurethat key while she is swimming, so that we can make one just like it."
With a rock, they made a copy of the key, and they startedto open and it opened.
"Ready! With this we can now protect ourselves,now we will kill the Conga for certain
if shedoesn't give us the water", said Carabf.
"Well, Mrs. Conga,now you will give me the water," he said to her as he arrived at her
house.
'No I won't hand it over becauseyou, as a god, should have your own water"
"Don't you upsetme."
ot
lt is likelythat Carabiisstilladdressing
the animals
that arewith him.
a
Seenote7
as
In Colombia,
a "verraco"isa skilledandcleverperson.ln the context,it seemsthat Carabi's
skillsaretakenas
negativeattributesandso he is moreof a sneakytricksterwho useshiscleverness
for badthings.
t
I
I
I
I
L7
"Well, I am not going to hand over the water."
"She is envious and greedy; I am going to turn her into an ant!"
Then, he grabbedher by the nape of her neck and her foot and pulled her, causingher waist to
disappear.a6
"Do you know what, Carabf? Give me venom so that I can kill the people instantly; so
that they will die," said the woman, already changedinto an ant.
I
I
I
-
"No, the venom I am going to give you will hardly be enoughto make the personhurt for
I
I
a brief moment"
I
I
I
Well, then becauseof that, they startedto open the rock but there wasn't any more water.
Nothing! There were very many large trees;one of them was the Jenen6. There was jungle but
there was not any water. Then they said:
"Eh! That is punishment for us. She took the water away in her mouth she took all of it.
I
I
t
I
I
I
I
I
I
Let's seewhat we shoulddo..."
Carabi startedto walk with his people through the jungle, until the otter told him, showing him a
stick,
"Papa! I hear a noise around here."
Everyone gathered round that stick, and in truth, they heard a river that sounded like a snailuuuu! This is called Jenen6.
"Our grandfather,our past, the water," Carabi was saying, becausehe had dreamedit so.
Well, since they had already made an axe, they startedto fell the tree among all of them. ln total,
they were about eight animals; among them, the monkey, the fox, the otter, the big squirrel, and
the small one that lives eating the bark from trees.
ou
Thisiswhyantsdo not havewaists.
18
By the afternoon,they had already been cutting down more than half of the tree but they
grew tired and went home to continue the next day. During the night, the frog was coming. In
that time, he was a person, skipping around and peeing. Over there, and he was painting the tree
with tar so that it would remain as if nothing had choppedit. Three times, the people of Carabf
found the tree well healedafter they had choppedon it with the ax all day long, until Carabf said:
"You know what? We cannot continue working like this. We are going to make a polish
or beeswax,like those that our grandfathersused to make, cooking the "canturron", until
a tarJike substanceremainedthat servedas an oil lamp to give off light and with this,
they could keep working."
In the night, the fox stayedkeeping a lookout, and he saw a gentleman(he startedto rub),
who seemedto be a painted frog. The man startedto rub and rub until he left the tree well
healed. Immediately, they set about felling the tree and they continued without stopping for two
days. The Jenen6tree did not fall all at once, but insteadstayedtwisted up in a vine. Carabi said
to the monkey:
"Go take this fruit and if you fall before the fruit, you are going to win and the tree will
tumble down".
The otter said,
"Do you know what? We are going to play, but we have to make a raft of TukunoaT
wood to saveourselves,becausethat river will engulf everything in a swamp."
"Ha, clever!"
ot
Tukunois likelya species
of treethat growsin the region.
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
t
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
19
They made a raft to climb on when everything turned into pure swamp and after that, the black
monkey, the red one, but the fruit would always fall first; the fox and the otter refusedto climb
the tree. Then the squirrel said:
"I'll go. We'll seeif I win."
The squirrel climbed up. When he climbed up, pun! He threw the fruit. But the fruit always fell
first! Then, up there, that "runidito de chidinia" climbed and startedand threw down one fruit
and that chidinia fell first. And the tree startedto fall when the fall was heard on the ground and
it flooded. When it flooded, they said:
"Eh! What do we do? We are going to die!"
And they got on the large raft. There, they were lighting a campfire and making a little food.
Everything was getting wet, but it was the otter, whom somecall "mongrel of the water", who
brought the fish. The, Carabi thought:
What do I do with thesepeople? Thesepeople have to change,he said. The one who
yells quite a lot I am going to call "monkey'', he said. I am going to turn him into a
monkey. The one who lives fishing every minute, I am going to call "otter". The one
who lives playing daily, I am going to turn him into a long-tailed black monkey and the
other I am going to call "fox" becausehe like to meddle in other's affairs and the one that
like to take chargeof the little sticks, I am going to call "squirrel". And the one who
helped to get the water, I am going to call "chidimia" or..rufrito de palo".
Fifteen days later, they arrived at a dry land. They got offthe raft and Carabf told them.
"I have already turned you all into animals so that you can manageyour territories."
20
A llistorical Reviewof the IndieenousReservationof the Ember{-Chamf
La Italia
The communitieson the reservationLa Italia comefrom the deparfinentsof Choc6,
Risaralda. ln thesedeparfinents,our ancestorshad their own territorieswherethey practicedthe
hunt (went hunting),practicedagriculturewheretherewas the first branchof societyand from
they hadto
theterritory.Becauseof conflictsandthecolonizationof themestizopeopleas,
abandontheir territoriesandin searchof the samecalm atmospherethat their ancestorshad. In
the year lg77,they cameto the deparfinentof Putumayoae.
The late Arturo Niaza Cuazarabe,BernardinoMoralesGermanTammiza, GenaroYagari
the quality of the land, plannedby the late RafaelMosquera,
cameto go aroundanddetermineso
who hadbetterknowledgeof this land. He told themthat in Putumayo,the quality of the land
wasvery good for agricultual productionandalso,that therewerevalid lands. ln analyzingthis
opportunitywhereit is said,"The lndian without land is not an Indian", we headedfor the
departmentof Putumayoandtheysl cameto the municipality of PuertoAsis andthey entered
€
in
meaning
teacheror masterof a field,wasincluded
theword"maestro",
In the originaldocument,
ruleand
prominent
were
subjugated
under
colonial
the
community
parentheses,
members
of
that the
suggesting
of theirterritories.
thissparkedthe abandonment
oe
border.
nearthe Ecuadorian
Departmentlocatedin centralsouthernColombia,
t
or, asin thiscontext,to go around.
means
to
surround
Here,the originaldocumentonlystated"rodeat'',which
judgedthe qualityof the land.
group
However,it canbe impliedthat the writerintendedto describehow the
tt
mid-sentence.
Thisis likelydueto natureof how
Manytimesthroughoutthe document,the subjectchanges
by hand. lt ii
andtranslatedinto Spanish
thesehistorieswererecorded,first in Emberdandlatertranscribed
enoughto saythat the groupthat isthe subjectin thissentenceis the same.
I
T
t
T
I
I
t
t
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
2L
from the small towns2of El Tigre. They came to La Argelia. They had campedeight days.
They enteredGuadualito in searchof worthy land. They did not like the remoteness.
They left again to go to La Argelia and from there, they went to Villa Hermosas3where
they were able to go into the "Jardin de la Selva"54,where Mr. Rafael Mosquerawas and he told
Mr. Eduardo Beltran that he was selling an openssland of two hectares,which Mr. Arturo Niaza
bought. And in thirty minutes, [he] had the two open hectaresand Mr. Bernardino Morales
bought that and later, [it was passedto] don56Genaro Yagari. Mr. JoseLito Cantillo bought an
open land of about 80 squaremeters and a part was sold to EduardoBeltran. And later, they
returnedto the departmentof Caqueuito where their families were; they had to travel by plane
and the flight only cost 220 dollars.
And later they returnedwith all of the family and they startedto build somehuts made of
yarina leaf and the pen with the sameleaf. The only one of the family who came as a bachelor
was don Bernadino Morales who brought his mother. Don Rogelio Arias also came with his
wife Clara Rosa Yagari and the others [the Yagari brothers]. Don Arturo Niaza and his sons
Jaime Niaza, Abigail Niaza and his other brothers eachtook over a plot of land and they started
to sow the land with chiro57,plantain, rice, corn and yucca. And when they arrived at this
region, the flora and the fauna had been in much higher quantity, with the likes of tapir58,
t'The
wordusedin the originaldocuments
is "corregimiento",
whichlacksan explicittranslation.
lt is understood
assmallerthana municipality
or a municipality
in the making;perhaps
the meaning
iscaptured
in "departmental
parish"
s3
Meaning"Beautiful
Town"
s
"ElJardinde la Selva"meansthe Gardenof theJungle;
thistextwill maintainlocalnamesof all locations
s5
unoccupied
56zpon,
isa titleof courtesy
usedin LatinAmerica;
its roughequivalence
is "Mr."
s7The
translator
wasunableto finda translation
for "chiro",whichisa commonsubsistence
cropin the region
s8
Theoriginaldocument
usedthe word"danta",whichisthe commonnamefor threespecies
of tapirfoundin
SouthAmerica
22
gurie,peccary6l,pigs,monkeys,chiquiro,deer,jaguar,turkeys,the
cerrillose,spottedpacas60,
pajuil62bird, the guacharaca63
bird, tentes,macawparrots,snakeslike martiguajas,cats,orito,
gananculcha,
coralwio, etc. Also, thereexistedotherspiritsof the mountainlike thosecalled
banbus, La Llorona, La Patasola,La Viuda, [and] Duende65.
In tlnt time, it waspure66mountain. Therewere dwellings six hoursaway. The
agriculturewas only utilized for humanconsumptionbut the rice and corn beganto be developed
for commercialsale,to be takenfrom the river Guamues.They were making confiactswith
mule driversthat werethe neighbo*.
T.t
took [their crops],by horse,up to the brink of the
river called Tapote. Over there,they were constructinggrocerystoreswherewe were leaving
the cargosand from that place,we were embarkingin a boat in the directionof PuertoAsis. And
in PuertoAsis, therewasa mill; that wascalledthe Caquetrimill. This servedassupportus; as
the sustenance
for our children.
After sevenyears,more families had alreadystartedto arive to the deparhnentsof
Risaralda;the family of CarlosArturo Flores,JaimeFlores,andHector Florestogetherwith their
families. At that time, we werebelongrngto the "Jardin de la Selva". In the year 1982,we were
working in this district until in the year 1987;we alsowerehaving children studyingin that
school. Mr. Ediluerto Sotelo[came]from the district of ta Germania[and] gaveus the ideato
form the Boardof CommunalAction. He gaveus guidanceon how it would function. So,we
5'The
translators
wereunableto find translations
for manyof theseanimalsor plants.Thismaybe because
they
are localnicknames
or Emberanamesfor thesespecies.
t
poco,)or the boruga,is a largerodentfoundin tropicalpartsof the Americas.
TheSpottedpaca(Cuniculus
ut peccary
A
is a mammalrelatedto the pig;it is a blackish
color
62Penelopino
nigro
t'
ortolisgorrulo,alsoknownin Englishasthe Chestnut-winged
Chachalaca
*
Theselegendsarecommonin manyLatinAmericancountriesthoughColombiahasits uniqueversionfor each.
To readabouttheselegends,visitthis website.
tt
A "duende"is a goblinor imp
*
Here,"pure"mostlikelytakeson the meaningof untouchedor undeveloped
I
I
I
I
23
came together: GenaroYagari, Leonel Yagari, Rogelio Arias, Pedro Luis Arias, Arturo Niaza,
Abigail Niaza, Jaime Niaza y the Morales family, the Flores family, Patrocinio Niaza, Rogelio de
Jests Yagari, JesusNiaza, Belizario Arias, and a censusof about fifteen families.
Angelmiro Arias and Bernardo Yagari were taking chargeof the office of mayor in the
municipality of Puerto Asfs and it was refusedbecausehe only had trvo last namesand they told
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
them that you couldn't form a board with only two families. So, we67went to where the parish
priest, father Pablo Patino lived and he told them that they did have the right to form a board.
Well, it was quite far from one school to the other (an hour) and the route, very mountainous.
Between don Genaroand don Rogelio, they had the idea to give it the name of Genova
Italia and the father told them that it was very painful becausethe Spaniardshad been coming to
finish it offand to take the wealth from the indigenouspeople. It is better that they name it
Genova or Italia so that they don't give [the Spaniards]too much honor becausethey arrived at a
faraway land, like ChristopherColumbus. Thus, they decidedto name it Italia.
So, we again took an official proposal6sto the mayor's office and at that time, they were
in the middle of mayoral campaigns. The doctor Alirio Romo Guevara,one such candidate,
pledgedto createa proper name for the district. We askedthat he give us a promoter so that he,
[the promoter], could advise us at the executiveboard. They sent a police inspectorFedermon
Machado. It was not possible or sufficient for us to sendanothernotice, stating that we could not
elect an executiveboard. The mayor's office sent a regional developerfor community boards,
Mr. Victor Arevalo. He cameand conveneda generalmeeting and we were able to form the
executiveboard on the l4th of Novemberof 1988.
67
Throughout
the document,the speakeradoptsthe "we" form of the verbbut then changes
subjectslater. Thisis
likelydueto the oralnatureof the language
andthatthisisa commonhistoryof the people
s
Theoriginaldocumentusedtheword"oficio",whichmeansan officialdocument
or note. In thiscontext,it is
likelya proposalto officiallynamethe town ltalia.
24
In the official documen! it wasthus established:
PresidentGenaroYagari CC 4859394,
Vice PresidentJaimeNiazaCC 79709776,
TreasnrerAbigail Niaza CC 78709242,
SecretaryJesrisMosqueraCC 97455097,
ProsecutorRogelio de Jesrisyagari CC 776g0g4g
The organizationof committees
Physicaleducation(Educationof sports)
LeonardoArias CCTgTOgTSg
Healthand socialwelfare
Chra Rosayagari CC 2653g23g
Building andfinancer
RogelioArias CC 75gg777
conciliatory commiftgs
Arturo Niaza cc 7372303y JesfsArias cc 4gffigz
They built a small hut6e,with dimensionsof 7 by 4. The roof wasmadeof
Cananvoleaf
andthe floor ofparts of a Yaripa palm tree7oandwhile the boardwasauthori
zingit,they sentfor
a military professorthat wasto comefrom the SantaAna base,nameLuis
EduardoCoral
Venavides.He arrivedon the eighthof December1989to work asa teacher.
He startedoffwith
fifteen students:Luis OrlandoYagari, Miyer Niaza"Alvear Ciegama,Diana
ManaNiaza,
Anciz'atAttas, EsperanzaYagari, Alonso Yagari, Keynelio Yagari, pedro
Arias,
RubiolaArias,
Luz Mari Yagari, CarmensaNiaza.
The professorlastedtwenty daysand [then] he left becausehe got sick and
he did not
comeback again. After that"it took six monthsto sendhis replacement.
They sentMr. Cristobal
I
rc
rnisnutwaslaterusedastheschool
building.
Yaripa,one of the manyspeciesof palmtreei found in the area,is often
usedin housingasflooringor walls.
I
I
I
I
I
25
Jacanamejoy,who worked for three months on contract and since the contract was not renewed,
they sent ProfessorPetevy in 1990. And, with that, the number of studentsgew. As there had
been a good number of students,they sent for Mr. Miguel Angel Jacanamejoy,who worked for
four months and he was replacedby Mr. Jos6Dario Linares Quinchoa that sameyear and he
lasted four years.
Sinceby that time, they had made a school of wood and zinc, thanks to donationsfrom
I
I
I
I
I
I
II
the mayor Alirio Romo. An idea emergedto build a school. The community approvedthe
constructionof the school of wood and they had a bidding of three million pesos. ProfessorJos6
Dario Linares said that the building they constructedusing the materialscould be less costly and
he was committing to make the blocks. The community approved[this] and bought fifty sacks
of segmentsand Mr. Jorge Coral Rivas liked the idea and agreedand he said that it was better
that they make it like this. The community promised to get five shipmentsTrof sand,twelve
packagesof rock from the SantaMaria gulley that was located about fifteen minutes away and
they bought sixty leafs of temit and in those times, they drained the dregsin Putumayo,that was
about three hours by troche in bad weather.T2 They were given the ternet leafs after five
mingasT3and after 25 trips carrying sand and getting the segments,children and adults and
teachersworked for a year, later they negotiatedwith the Governor's office. They approvedthe
I
I
I
I
I
I
proposal and sent two teachers:Pedro Linares and Julio.
71
Theoriginaldocumentusedthe "bolquetada",
whichdoesnot appearin Spanish
dictionaries
but in this
reference,
canbe understoodasa specifiedquantity.
t'ihere
in the originaltextthat is entirelyunclear,
whetherbecause
is a sentence
of handwriting
or misuse
of a
word.
members
wordfor a meetingwherecommunity
cometogetherto worktogetherto
" A mingais a traditional
improvethe community.In October2008,a nationalmingacaptured
the attentionof the press.Some30,000
from dozensof differenttribes(amongthemthe Ember6Chami)cametogetherto work in solidarity
Colombians
for improved
treatmentof indigenous
communities.
26
They promised to alrange accommodationsand food for the school and they sent it to the
"plante" and they approved the 24 million. He was conducting a campaignto announcein the
year'95, when he was killed but he kept planningand left it in the handsof the mayor, Galviz,
who did not give us all of the budget, but rather only nine million. Those samemen hired
anotherteacherand he bought doors, cement and the work was finished in'94. [The professor]
Rubiela Petevy was replacedby Alda Galindes,who offered her servicesas teacher. She was
settling in at this institution when they decided to send Luis Orlando Yagari, who was from the
sameEmber6 community.
At this time, Dario Linares, who worked for years,decidedto leave. In his place, Luis
Enrique Mendosa showedup and offered his servicesfor three years. Then his replacement,
Dalia Caicedo,came. In place of the teachingassistantcameJosdAlos Elago,who offeredhis
servicesfor one year. At this time, they fired Luis Orlando Yagari becausehe did not meet some
of the requirementsthat the Secretaryof Education demandedand they sent Gonzalo Millan
Lerma to replacehim.
In the year 2000, they sent the teaching assistantClaudia Patricia Noscue Zapataand they
dismissedthe teachingassistantJos6Alos Elago. As his replacement,they sentSilvio Miguel
Munos, who becamebored and left on the fifteenth of February 2007 andthey sent Luz Adriana
Noscue Zapata,who continued offering her servicesuntil the moment, in 2003, that these
teacherswere appointedin the institution in the LE.R.M. La Italia appointedSilvio Miguel
Munos and Eduardo Alos to the office of the Secretaryof Departmental,or Municipal,
Education. They worked in the "malvinos", the teacherSilvio Miguel Munos so that he would
perform the job of director of the center. They sent ProfessorLuz Adriana Noscue to La Italia
reservation,who until now has offered her servicesas teacher.
I
I
27
Don Genaroservedsix yearsas Presidentand later, he turned over the job to don Paulino
r
I
Rosero,who worked for four yearswith 77 peopleaffiliated with the Community Action
Committee. ln 1989,he broughtus the idea to form a "cabildo"74.ln thosetimes,the
community did not have ideas about indigenousorganizationor mobilization. In the
I
I
r
murucipality of Orito, there had been two organizationsof the sameethnicity. They gave us
ideasabouthow to be satisfiedwith the cabildo. The oneswho helpedus the most were Mr.
Roberto Gonzales,from La Venada Town Council and Governor Pedro Luis Yagari from La
Cristiania Town Council. They explainedto us the advantagesof an indigenouscabildo: the
t
incentivesfor educationand the respectthe governmentwould pay to the indigenouscommunity.
And in that time, the SecoinOrganization conducteda two-day workshop in the La
I
I
f
VenadaTown Council. We had the opportunity to participate in this gathering. This
organizationgave us guidanceand the fundamentalsof an indigenouscommunity was its
customsand rituals and from where it can prevented. The Emberii KatioTsalso advisedus that
Iwe had to sendofficial documentssuch as the minutes from the executiveboard's meeting and
I
the minutes from the swearing-in before the mayor's office and to sendthem to the OZ\P76
organization.
I
And the cabildo consistedof twenty families of the surnames:Yagari Arias, Yagari
f
Tamariza, Yagari Onogama,Tamariza Cano, Morales Niaza, Morales Flores, Ciegama
I
I
Chogama,Arias Ciegama,Niaza Guasarabe,Niaza Onogama,Niaza Arias, Niaza Flores, Flores
-
7a
that affectthe
asa townhallor councilthat meetsto approvemeasures
understood
A cabildoisgenerally
community.
tt
groupthat livesin southern
in the departments
Colombia,
TheEmbera
KatiopeopleareanotherethnicEmbera
Cordoba
andAntioquia.
groupsin government
andto
indigenous
NGOformedin 1986that seeksto betterrepresent
isa Colombian
" OZIP
groups.OZIPstandsfor Regional
for
Organization
Amazonian
faceindigenous
respond
to threatsthatcommonly
visitwww.ozip.org.co
To findout moreaboutOZIP,
Groupsof Putumayo.
Indigenous
I
I
Irr
I
I
I
a
'srBedo/t$ JoJPeryo,l\szBINeturcf uoc 'rJ?EBlorENrrO
.rodsuruaol eql
'?zBrNerurq 'rIAlsBrrrroura,roElsrg eql 'saIBJoI szlUSUrBrpuu .ereaecep
s?lJV.sepzuog
I
8Z
-
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
t
29
Routes
In the year 1977when they had only just come, they were leaving by a trail to a place
called Sapote,now called Las Brisas, about a two hour trip. There, they were boarding boats on
the River Guamesto arrive at Puerto Asis after [another] two hours of travel. Later, they made
short cuts to leave to La Palla, downstreamfrom Las Brisas.
In the year 1990,the Ecopetrol business,which made the Puerto Vega-Putumayo7
Highway, came from the municipality of Puerto Asis. They startedto look for an outlet toward
there. They made rough roads to lead to Las M'alvinas and to get from here to there. There were
already roadsto get to the Putumayo Highway 7. The roadswere in bad condition, on accountof
the rain and the terrain, which are high plains77.
Relief and Weather
This place is mountainous. The largestpart is jungle and a minimal part is dry lands.
And other parts were openedup by other landownersof theselands. Theselands are suitable for
ranching since for the most part, are hills and very small for agriculture.
It presentsa beautiful countryside covered in forests and adomed with the sparsefauna
that remains on account of the relief. The district has a temperatureof approximately 28 to 30
degreesCelsius. It residesat an altitude of 2.68 meters above sea-level,with a warn climate.
The months of winter are March, April, May, June and July. The months of summer are August
through January. In the month of July, there is some frost, with frequent drizzles and it is a bit
cold.
tt
Originally,the terrain is describedas "altiplano",which refersto a high plateauor high plains.
30
Hvdroeraphv
Thedistrict [has]varioussmallstreamlets
thatpassthroughthehills. Amongthem,is the
streamletcalled"El Perroy la Hormiga"Tsandit crossesthe SantaMaria gully that comesfrom
the Gardenof the Jungleandcontinuesdownward,passingthroughpartsof LasMalvinas. This
streamis not very deep;in fact,the maximumdepthis 2 meters.[n summertime,its waters
quickly becomescarce.It doesn'tpossess.a
largequantityor diversityof fish. Somefamilies
benefitfrom this; otherscollectwaterfrom the streamletsTe.
Topographv
Fauna
In spite of the abundantjungle, wild animals are scarce,due to heavy hunting by its inhabitants.
The animals still around are few like the boruga80,parrotsl, gurre, deer, cerrillo, peccary,
squinels, sloth. Also, the areais rich in foxes, raposas,and a variety of snakeslike the
martiguaja, guio, gata, orito, and monkeys like the flying monkey, the red howler monkey, the
Owl monkey82,the boso de leche monkey, the monoranque,the churuco, and the soldados3.
[The
areaalso hosts a variety of birds] like the panguana,the muchileroto bird, turkeys, hens,and the
guacharacabird among others.
7a
"El Petto"means"TheDog"and "LaHormiga"means,,TheAnt,,,
tt
In the originaldocument,it is alsomentionedthat peoplecollectwaterfrom "nacederos".However,
the
translatorcouldnot find a translationfor thisword.
e
Thetranslator
wasunableto findtranslations
for someof the animalsmentioned,
perhaps
because
the names
listedarelocalnames.
81
Theoriginaldocument
mentions
the guaraparrot
82
Thismonkeyis calledthe "tutamono;inSpanish
tt
ft is likelythat oneor manyof thesetypesof monkeyrefersto the capuchinmonkey(genusCebusl,which
is
commonin the area.
s
TheMuchilerobird,or orop6ndula,is nicknamed
the "knapsack
bird" because
of its nest,whichis a woven
basketnestthat hangsfrom branches.Thebird is nativeto the area;is hasyellowfeathersandbtackwingsand
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
t
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
31
Previously,tigers,tapir,blackboaranddeerexistedherebut havesincedied out. Someof these
contributeto theaveragediet.
Flora
Before, when they had recently arrived, there was a lot of forest, full of timber-yielding
trees,like the Yellow Elder, the Peine Mono, Dogwoodst, Cedar, the Bilibil, the Granadillo86,the
Tara, the TornillosT,the Guayacan,and the Caimo88. Currently, they are in dangerof extinction.
[The forest] has a variety of bushesseand small plants and a small number of palms like the
Milpesos Palmeo,the CanamboBombona, and the ChuchanaPalm. Fruit trees such as the
Orange,the Pomorroso,the Araza,and Grape grow in great quantities. The [sugar] cane is
cultivated as a subsistencecrop and somemedicinal plants are also farmed, like the bijaoel, the
yage, basil, the morrajo, and guarisacha,among others, that are frequently used by the jaibanrlse2
for healing practices of the townspeople. The felling of the forests arose as a means to introduce
subsistencecrops and pasturesas well as to make room for streetsand the construction of homes.
tail. ln culturalstudies,
it hasbeensuggested
that the birdhasa phallicconnotation
dueto the lookof its nest(it
resembles
people.
testicles).See"TheOriginof the Plantain"for its rolein the loreof the Embera-Chami
8s
Piscidia
carthagenensis
*
Thistree coufdbe eithera Pomegranate
tree(Punicogronatumlor the StickyHopbush(Dodonoeo
viscosal,
as
"granadillo"
isa commonnamefor both.
87
TheTorniffo lCedretinga
catenoeformis)
or Achapotreegrowsin Mexicoand partsof SouthAmericaandis a
largetreethat growsup to 150ft tall; it hasa palebrownheartwoodandis usedin generalconstruction.
a
Sometimes
calledthe YellowStarAppletree or the Abiutree,the Caimotree (PouterioCaimitolgrowswellin
tropicalareasandproducesa round-oval,
soft,yellow-colored
fruit that is eatenfresh.
8e
Theoriginaldocument
usedtheword"aborto",whichmeansabortionbut in the context,thisis understood
asa
orthographical
erroras"arbusto",meaningplantor shrubisveryclosein its spelling.
*
palmwhosefruit is verypopularandwhosewoodis often used
Mifpesos(Oenocorpus
botouolis a slow-growing
for construction.
plantthat growsin swampyareaswith a rangefrom Mexicoto
tutealisaleafyherbaceous
" Thebilao(Cototheo
SouthAmerica.lts leaveshavea varietyof purposes,
fromcooking
to medicinal
use.
t'Jaiban6
is a titleheldbysomeone
trainedin the waysof traditional
medicine
in the Emberd
community.
32
Health
This communityis frequentlysubjectedto illnessesdueto poor nutrition,including
and
toothaches,
problemsof malnutrition,diarrhea,denguefever,malaria,anemia,fuberculosis,
show
thatpreventhealthychild development.Thesediseases
manyparasiticaldiseases
diarrhea,and
stomachache,
symptomslike high fever,malaise,physicalexhaustion,headache,
vomiting,all of which aretreatedby thejaiban6. If it is a seriouscase,they go to the hospitalto
keepthe diseasein check. Thehospitalshavebecomesheltersalthoughtheyarenot frequently
usedon accountof the distance;thepathtakes2 % hoursto arriveat the PosoPuertoMayo 7
Highway. Anotherreason[for its infrequentuse]is the lack of attentionpaid by the community
to requestan EMT squad.And peoplerarelyleavedueto their critical economicsituation.
an ofiice to dealwith malaria'
Presently,we possess
Whena communitymemberis afflictedby bug bitesor he suffersfrom lessserious
illnesses,he is attendedto by a jaiban6. If he hasan accidentor contractsa moregraveillness,
he is carriedby stretcherto the PosoPuertoMayo 7 Higlrwayandwill wait for the car on duty
to the PuertoAsis
thatpassesthroughpuertoVegaat leastonceor twice for transportation
Hospitalin Putumayo.Pregnantwomenusea midwife'
ln this indigenouscommunity,thereare sevenjaibands,who arevery useful for the
knowledgeaboutmanyplants. We don't havea sewersystemor
community;theypossess
publicrestroomsor a water-supplyline. Before,they didn't evenhavelatrines. In 2002,the
U.N. helpedwith the constructionof sanitaryunits for families. Theyweremadeof wood and
burn it.
[had]porcelainbasins.Trashis throwninto the yardor some
33
Ethnosraphv
The approximatenumberof peoplein this communityis 192people.Within this group,
thereare85 minorsandabout50 adultsandabout57 seniorcitizens. 38 familiescomprisethe
populationandthereis not a floatingpopulation.
Thebirth rateis 4 to 5 childrenannuallvandwhensomeonedies.he or shehasa wakein
the schoolandis takento be buriedin the "Jardinde la Selva".which is abouta 7-hourwalk.
sincethereis a cemeterythere.
Thecommunityis purelyEmber6Katio indigenouspeople,who camefrom Choc6
Risaralda.Saidcommunityshowsoff its culturalidentity:20 %oaremusicenthusiasts
and
practiceandplay guitar,charrasca,anda keyboard. They arehappyand activecontributors[to
the community].Therestarecalm,carefreeandapatheticpeoplethat don't like to engage
themselves
at all. Fromtime to time, thereareinternalfestivalsin orderto collectfunds,
althoughtheyaren'tvery fruitful. Theyplay soccer.
In timesbefore,they did not identiff with anypolitical group. Thosewho vote arevery
few. Onecause[of this apathy]is the armedgroupsthat don't permitit anddisplacetheballots.
A secondcauseis thatthe majorityof people,thoughtheyareadults,do not possess
documentation.A largepart of thepopulationis illiterate,especiallyadults.
34
Housine
In this neighborhoodwe have32 dwellings,distributedin this way: l0 houses[are] in
the highlandson the westernside,ratherwithdrawn from the school,aboutan hours' walk; the
restof the housesare found in the lower parts,coveringthe northeasternpart andthe southem
part. They aremuch closerto the school,about5 to 35 minutesaway,andthe schoolis
surroundedby somehouses.
Constructionof a house
Thewalls aremadeof woodeqblocks,the floor is madeofplanks, [and]theroof is made
of zinc. Most of the houseshavethe following dimensions:8 meterslong by 6 meterswide. In
general,someof the houseshavetwo fueplaces. The housesare lighted by oil lamps,and
firewoodis usedfor cookingmeals. Therearesomelargerfamilies.
35
Ethnosraohv
very few families areboundby matrimony. The majority of families
live in an open
abuseof womenis aproblem and
union; very few olderpeoplelive without a spor$e. Domestic
their children,andvice-versa' Peoplearenot very well
[someparents]showlittle affectionfor
educated.
4
resources'For zuch
The dressof our communityis in accordancewith our economic
skirt that nrns long anda
reasons,we dresshumbly and simply. The womenwear a common
andwool shirtts
blouse. In respectto the climate,the men wearpantsmadeofjeans
short-sleeved
clothes;somewomenadorn
and short-sleevedshirts. In the afternoon,the peoplewear sporty
braceletsandnecklaceshand-madeby thesesamewomen' In
themselveswith chaquirae3-style
general,the peopleweartennisshoes'
ffiionaladornments,sometimesintheformofneck|aces,bracelets,earrings,thatare
patterns'
(generally
brightlycolored)beadswovenin elaborate