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Etnias Maku    
 
It is already a commonplace among the regional populations and the ethnographic literature on North-western Amazonia to
distinguish between the so-called 'river Indians,' speakers of Tukano and Arawak languages, and 'forest Indians,' speakers of Maku languages. While the former are agriculturists who fix their villages by the shores of navigable rivers, the Maku migrate across the watershed regions, settling temporarily wherever they find ecological conditions favourable for hunting and suitable to their traditional way of resolving their internal conflicts: "when we fall out, we spread out through the forest and stay there until the anger passes."
   

Other names:
Pohsá, Peoná, Wirapoyá, Kamã, Guariba Tapuya, Xiruai, Nukak, Kakwa, Hupu, Yuhupdu, Duw, Nadub

Where they live:
Amazonas state, Brazil, and Colombia)

How many people:
2,548 in Brazil (in 1998) and 678 in Colombia (in 1995)

Language:
Six languages of the Maku family
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