Bora people

This article is about the indigenous peoples of Peru, Colombian and Brazil. For other indigenous peoples see Indigenous peoples (disambiguation)

Bora

Total population
(Approx. 2,000 (various post-2001 est.))
Regions with significant populations
Peru Colombia Brazil
Languages
Bora, Spanish
Religion
Christian, Animist
Related ethnic groups
Witoto, Ocaina

The Bora are an indigenous tribe of the Peruvian, Colombian and Brazilian Amazon, located between the Putumayo and Napo rivers. The Bora speak a Witotan language and comprise approximately 2,000 people. In the last forty years, they have become a largely settled people living mostly in permanent forest settlements.

In the animist Bora worldview, there is no distinction between the physical and spiritual worlds and spirits are 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[1] 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 are very divided and politically unorganized.

The Bora have guarded their lands from both indigenous foes and outsider colonials. Around the time of the 20th century, the rubber boom had a devastating impact on the Boras. A book which recorded the mistreatment of the Boras during that time period is "The Putumayo; The Devil's Paradise" which was published in 1912 and written by W.E. Hardenburg. The tribe's ancestral lands are currently threatened by illegal logging practices. The Bora have no indigenous reserves.

External links

• The Bora People
• Putumayo, The Devil's Paradise, by W.E. Hardenburg, 1912. Via Wikisource.
• Harrison, Theresa; Media, Demand. Basic Beliefs of the Bora Indians Classroom Synonym Aces. Feb. 2015