How can people survive in this County ?
As the world closes in on the Amazon, the Indians living there will have to make great changes in the way in which they live.  The impact to their lives is being felt throughout the region more every day.   Although visitors, to the villages, come with their cameras to look and take pictures, very little is done in providing help for these people.
By help I mean tee-shirts, pants, the basic things we take for granted.  We had been told to pack items of clothing for trade with the Indians.   As the problems that these people faced became more apparent, we elected to give most of what  we had brought with us, to our guide Gilberto, to distribute to the various settlements.  He told us that the items which were most in need were clothing for the children, especially shirts of any kind.
By the way, shoes are not required, these people prefer the warm contact that they have with the earth, by going barefoot. 

I must say, that Gilberto is an exceptional person in many ways.  He is the main provider of any income the Indians have, by bringing in visitors to their remote areas.   Sad to say he is also the only one who is helping to provide medicine for those who might need help.  The problems in areas like this are dysentery and other jungle related illnesses, which occur where sanitary conditions do not exist.   He pays for everything from his own income and during our trip gave medicine and advice to those who were in need.  Indians originally relied on Shaman,  or medicine men,  who knew all the plants and their powers of healing.  With the incursion of outsiders into the area these wise men have disappeared taking their knowledge with them.

On trips from home to home, he is constantly surrounded by children to whom he gives small paper wrapped candies.  I was told, before making the trip,  not to bring candy to the Indians as it was bad for their teeth but they do grow sugar cane and apparently make some form of sweets for themselves.  I can believe, from the reception we got, that they prefer the store-bought kind.

As we proceeded down the river,  we constantly encountered the smiling faces of a very handsome race of people.  When you look at the small dugouts, which are made from an entire tree, you cannot help but wonder how they keep afloat.   Most boats have about two inches of wood above the water.   This little boy saw us coming and paddled out to greet us.  He knew that Gilberto had candy for him and wanted to be first to receive his gift.

A boy with his boat, the only means of transportation here.

Gilberto brought us to the home of a chief, in the region, so that we could see the life style of this wonderful family.   The chief was a man of about four foot six inches in height with a head dress of parrot feathers giving him the appearance of a much larger person.  What he lacked in height he more than made up in personality and ability.  His expertise with a blow gun was unbelievable. 

 



When I first saw the seven foot blow gun, I thought it was a two man operation. Not so, the chief holds the gun in his two hands,  gripping only the bottom eight inches of this long heavy pipe.  He can put a dart in a circle two inches around from a distance of thirty five feet.  His forearms show how they developed from many years of using this gun.   I do not recommend this sport if you have trouble with tennis elbow.

Men of the Amazon may look like the personification of the macho image but the children of the world need more fathers like these people.  Pictured here is the son of the chief and his grandson.   They have come down to meet us as we neared their home.   Our visit is the closest thing they have to entertainment.  They decided to make our stay something special.  Although they would have shared their food with us they knew that we could not eat it,  so the next best thing was to have music and dancing.  The local band was recruited from family members big and small.


The dance resembled the circle dance.   A circle was necessary as there was very little space to dance in.  The floor system must have been strained to the breaking point as it moved up and down about two inches with the dancing.   As an architect I was contemplating the stresses involved but these people hold things together by skills passed down from father to son.     It is amazing to see.  They could teach most of us the art of survival and being happy,  with only the bare necessities of life.  As you look at the chief dancing with my wife you can see that he is really small by our standards.  My wife is  five foot two.

On the wall of the Chief's home was this fanciful mural depicting two fish mermaids.   The Indians hunt for an extremely large fish found in their waters called a Paiche, the length of which approaches seven feet.  The scales of this fish are used in jewelry, necklaces and as fingernail files.  There are some specimens of this fish in the Iquitos zoo if anyone should want a close-up look.    At this time the government is helping to improve the facilities of the zoo.  There is more information on the zoo included in pictures and text at the end of our trip.

The time came for our departure and there was a feeling that we were leaving friends behind which we would never see again.    As we we were departing in our boat a little boy came running down the bank of the inlet carrying his prize possession which we had given him.  It was probably the only toy he had ever received from outside his jungle home.  If you look closely you will see that he has wrapped it carefully in a blanket.  This is typical of the men in a society where taking care of the children is the proud duty of every man and woman.

This is the equivalent of a driveway and a two-boat garage.
You can see the river in the distance.  This is an inlet which leads up to the chief's home.  The path on the left is a floating one so that as the river changes in height the men can still get to the house at its end.   We will return to our home camp from here and start tomorrow with a trip into the jungle and a chance to see specimen trees and unusual plants of the area.