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Defining who the Katukina are on the basis of their
name alone is not an easy task. Since the first half of
the 19th century, the historical records produced
by missionaries, travellers and government agents concerning
the indigenous peoples of the Juruá river refer
to all the known indigenous groups by the name Katukina.
According to the anthropologist Paul Rivet, though, ‘Katukina’
– or Catuquina, Katokina, Katukena, Katukino –
is a generic term that came to be attributed to five linguistically
distinct and geographically proximate groups (Rivet 1920).
Today this number is reduced to three: one from the Katukina
linguistic family in the region of the Jutaí river
in Amazonas state, and two from the Pano linguistic family
in Acre state.
Neither of the two Pano groups known by the
name ‘Katukina’ recognize the word as a self-designation.
Members of one of the groups, located by the shores
of the Envira river close to the town of Feijó,
prefer to be known as Shanenawa, their own name for
themselves. Those from the other group do not recognize
any meaning to ‘Katukina’ in their own language,
but have nonetheless adopted it, saying that the designation
was in fact ‘given by the government.’
This text relates to the latter group only.
The name ‘Katukina’ came to be accepted by
members of their two villages on the Campinas and Gregório
rivers, who do not possess a common ethnic designation.
The only existing self-designations which are widely
accepted refer to the six clans into which they divide:
Varinawa (people of the Sun), Kamanawa (people of the
Jaguar), Satanawa (people of the Otter), Waninawa (people
of the Peachpalm), Nainawa (people of the Sky) and Numanawa
(people of the Dove). It is worth noting that apart
from the Nainawa, these denominations are identical
to the names of some sections of the Marúbo people.
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