A CAUTIONARY TALE

In May 2006 a large group of Nukak-Makú leave the Amazon jungle and arrive at San José del Guaviare in Colombia, ready to join the modern world.

They are leaving the nomadic life of the hunter-gatherer, where the staples of life are killing monkeys for meat and collecting berries and nuts. Ill-adapted physically and mentally to the demands of the new life that they are seeking, and susceptible to illnesses they have not encountered before, they have no sense of how the new world in which they find themselves works. Crucially, they have no concept of money or of property. They think that the planes that they see in the sky overhead are moving on an invisible road.

It is not clear why the Nukak have acted. Perhaps the relentless struggle for existence has worn them down. It is also possible that they have been driven out by the Green Nukak, bands of Marxist guerrilla fighters, or been displaced by farmers growing coca to make cocaine. The Nukak are a peace-loving people and not prone to fight to defend their territory. Previous Nukak arrivals from the jungle have received state aid and housing and have come to enjoy the benefits of pots, pants, shoes, caps, rice, flour, sugar, oil, eggs, onions, matches, soap, housing and medical attention. This new group aims to follow suit. Having quickly learnt the value of money, their aspiration is to grow plantains and yucca, and to sell these and use the money they earn to exchange for other possessions.