CULTURE OF THE AMAZON REGION: MAIN CHARACTERISTICS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The culture of the Amazon region of Colombia is constituted primarily by activities and traditional customs of the native indigenous ethnic groups, such as rites, dances, songs, oral traditions, beliefs and crafts, among others.

The Amazon region is located in the south east of Colombia. It is considered a great generator of oxygen and a refuge for thousands of species, but it is also a region that is home to great cultural wealth.

Manguaré, traditional indigenous instrument.

The diversity is given by its multicultural population, mostly indigenous or mestizo, although with high indigenous influence, which maintains its distinctive symbolic and affective features as a consequence of the relative isolation of the region.

The cultural traditions of the Amazon region of Colombia are linked to its history and ethnic origins as well as its natural environment, including its ways of life, ancestral knowledge and its spirituality.

More than 60% of the territory of the Colombian Amazon region belongs to reservation systems and indigenous reservations, which function as protected areas where various nuclei of native settlements with a rich cultural identity are concentrated.

Despite the government's idealistic effort to preserve indigenous cultural integrity, most communities have suffered alterations in their traditions due to the influence and advance of civilization.

The 4 main cultural manifestations of the Amazon region of Colombia

1- Rites, dances and songs

The traditional indigenous rites, dances and songs have a mythical-spiritual character and are performed at representative moments, such as: fertility, marriage, births, harvests, health rituals, funeral ceremonies, among others.

The songs and voices express emotions according to what they feel: joy, sadness, anger, among others.

They are accompanied by imitating the sounds of nature, such as the song of birds, and with their own musical instruments made with local materials, such as the manguaré.

2- Oral traditions and beliefs

In general, the indigenous peoples of the Colombian Amazon have rich oral traditions of legends and myths.

Most of them describe a close relationship with the environment and the jungle, which they consider to be a great living being.

Most practice animism as a belief system, in such a way that they see the jungle and natural phenomena as their spiritual center, attributing particular spirits to all beings, be they animals, plants or rivers.

This keeps them permanently in a harmonious relationship with nature, thus maintaining the balance between the use and integrity of the forest.

3- Shamans and traditional medicine

The shamans and knowers, in addition to invoking the power of the spirits of nature to heal, also have extensive knowledge about the use of medicinal plants of the region to face each disease.

They perfectly dominate the botany and composition of the Amazonian vegetation, with knowledge of medical practices and knowledge inherited from their ancestors.

This knowledge allows them to choose the most suitable to provide curative and medical effects.

4- Crafts

Indigenous communities actively participate in the artisanal elaboration of wood carvings, woven baskets, woven backpacks, jewelery with seeds, utensils, blowguns, spears, bows and arrows, among other products.

They are knowledgeable experts of their environment, from which they collect seeds, barks and plants as raw materials, such as fibers for weaving and wood to build tools, canoes or houses, among other products.

References

1. Carlos Zarate. (2012). Towards an Amazonian indigenous CONPES. Building a comprehensive public policy for the indigenous peoples of the Colombian Amazon. Volume I. CONPES Document (National Council for Economic and Social Policy). National university of Colombia. Amazon Headquarters. Retrieved on November 1, 2017 from: bdigital.unal.edu.co
2. Colombia info. (s / f) The Amazon region. Folklore and traditions. Dances and traditional costumes. Colombia.com digital portal. Interlatin Corporation. Retrieved on November 1, 2017 from: colombia.com
3. Juan José Vieco. (2001). Development, environment and culture in the Colombian Amazon. Journal of Public Health. Vol. 3, No. 1. National University of Colombia. Retrieved on November 1, 2017 from: magazines.unal.edu.co
4. Sandra Franco, Mauricio Sánchez, Ligia Urrego, Andrea Galeano and María Peñuela-Mora. (2015). Products from the artisan market in the city of Leticia (Colombian Amazon) made with species of mauritia flexuos forests. LF Management and Environment Magazine. Volume 18. Number 1. National University of Colombia. Retrieved on November 1, 2017 from: magazines.unal.edu.co
5. Various authors. (2011). Colombian Amazon: Imaginaries and Realities. Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Chair. Amazonian Research Institute (IMANI). National university of Colombia. Amazon Headquarters. Retrieved on November 1, 2017 from: bdigital.unal.edu.co