The Matsés or Mayoruna are an indigenous people of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon . Their traditional homelands are located between the Javari and Galvez rivers. The Matsés have long guarded their lands from other indigenous tribes and struggle with encroachment from illegal logging practices and poaching .
17-518: 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. The word Matsés comes from
34-608: A 2006 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. In September 2013, the Matsés chief announced plans to start logging
51-474: 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. 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
68-555: A loose organization of its founders, Christopher Herndon, MD, and William Park. Acaté operates projects in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, and integrates culture, health, and ecology into all of its projects. Its current projects 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
85-600: Is a non-profit organization founded in 2012 by physician-ethnobotanist Christopher Herndon, M.D. and sustainable agriculturist William Park. Acaté Amazon Conservation works with the indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon to help protect the Amazon rainforest while providing the indigenous people economic opportunities. Notable initiatives include permaculture methods for sustainable agriculture, generating income through renewable non-timber resources as well as preservation of traditional knowledge and culture. Working directly with
102-481: 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. 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
119-511: The Matsés people, one of the largest indigenous populations in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest , Acaté Amazon Conservation is implementing strategic programs that provide much needed revenue without destroying their land and chosen way of life. Acaté has developed alternative approaches for viable long-term generation of revenue for Matsés communities that provides alternatives for unsustainable and destructive activities. These include
136-569: The Matsés Native Community lands and rejected oppositions of environmental organisations which he claimed were manipulating Matsés students. In response, Matsés students claimed that the chief was being manipulated by loggers and demanded that the Matsés chief be removed for not defending the interests of his people. To make matters more complex for the Matsés people, in September 2013 the Matsés mayor (Andres Rodriquez Lopez) of
153-569: The Matsés communities and most of what they need for survival comes from the rainforest. Traditionally, they hunted with bows and arrows. Their cuisine includes the sweet plantain beverage chapo . 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
170-553: The Matsés economic opportunities with renewable non-timber natural products. Mats%C3%A9s language Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 218578389 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:41:57 GMT Acat%C3%A9 Amazon Conservation Acaté Amazon Conservation
187-595: The Matsés first peaceful contact with the outside world in an article in Native Planet . In their article, James and Svensson described the 1969 encounter between the Matsés with SIL linguists Harriet Fields and Hattie Kneeland. That same year, 1969, photojournalist Loren McIntyre made contact with the Matsés as described in Petru Popescu 's book Amazon Beaming . The Matsés are very divided and politically unorganized. Each village has its own chief and there
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#1732779717017204-485: 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. Acaté Amazon Conservation is a non-profit that was founded in 2013, but existed since 2006 as
221-422: The first medicinal encyclopedia in the Matsés language , documenting and thus preserving the use of medicinal plants for the benefit of future generations. Acaté is working with traditional Matsés tribes to build sustainable and resilient living systems that provide food staples for their communities. Acaté is implementing projects with the communities to apply concepts of permaculture , the goal being to adapt
238-468: 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. 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). The Matsés made their first permanent contact with
255-516: The outside world in 1969 when they accepted SIL missionaries into their communities. Before that date, they were effectively at-war with the Peruvian government, which had bombed their villages with napalm and sent the Peruvian army to invade their communities to counter Matsés raids on villages to kidnap women for the tribe. At present, relations between the Matsés and the Peruvian government are peaceful. Dan James Pantone and Bjorn Svensson described
272-457: The sustainable harvest and marketing of non-timber forest products with medicinal or cosmetic value, such as copaiba and sangre de grado . Acaté Amazon Conservation seeks to maintain self-sufficiency of health care through the promotion of traditional systems of medicine. Acaté provides programmatic support for elder tribal shamans to teach and impart the knowledge of the rainforest to younger generations of Matsés and has successfully completed
289-575: 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. The Matsés have an elaborate knowledge of the plant and animal life of the surrounding rainforest. Little is imported into
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