The Nukak

The Nukak people are a tribe that live in a tropical

forest on the fringe of the Amazon Basin between the
Guaviare and Inirida rivers in South-east Colombia. They are
one of the six groups as all of them are known as the Maku
peoples. The Nukak live in small groups up to thirty people,
but the whole tribe has a population of around 500 people.
They are constantly moving, day and night, and their houses
tend to be light structures of wood that is built over and over
wherever they move to. The Nukak eat fish, turtles, fruit,
vegetables, moneys and honey. And in order to get food, they
hunt using blowguns with darts tipped with poison made
from the plants of the forest.

The Nukak have avoided almost all contact with outsiders until 1988, when a group of them turned up at Calamar, a
recently found colonists town. Today the Nukaks land is largely occupied by many cocoa growers, loggers and the
violence of Colombias civil war. Due to globalisation, left-wing guerillas, right-wing paramilitaries and the Colombian
troops are fighting over the cocoa and raw material for cocaine, so that the items can be exported a shipped for a great
deal of money. Due to the increase in contact with the outsiders, the Nukak became devastated with diseases such as
Malaria and the flu, which in total, cause more than 50% of the entire tribe to die. In 1993, Survival, ONIC and other
organizations made international campaigns on the tribes right to their ancestral land which was recognized by the
Colombian government. In 1997, the Nukak Reserve was then expanded to almost 1 million hectares of forest.

Due to the Colombian civil war, the Nukaks have now been driven out of their territory into a frontier town, San
Jose del Guaviare, which is half the size of a football field.
Here, the Nukaks are unable to hunt and eat like they used to
being their new home is poor for hunting and fishing, and
local farmers become angry when they hunt in the forests.
Therefore, Accion Social, the governments aid organization
delivers them food. However, because the Nukaks are not
used to the food they are given, the change of diet has
harmed their health. They are also now forced to wear
clothing around the town. It is estimated that they used to
have a population of over 2,000, but has now dropped to less
than 600 which brings fears of extinction. In my opinion, there
is a severe loss of culture of the Nukaks as they are now
forced to wear clothing, when they didnt before, and they
are forced to eat modern food, showing a loss in their tradition ways. This seems more as cultural imperialism than
cultural diffusion, because the modern culture of Colombia has been forced upon the Nukak tribe due to the stronger
power over the small tribe.

Jummas
Facts:

The Jummas people are located in Bangladesh, in the

Chittagong Hill Tracts (as seen on map)
They include the tribes Chakma, Marma, Tripuri,
Tanchangya, Chak, Pankho, Mru, Bawm, Lushai,
Khyang, Gurkha, Assamese, Santal, and Khumi.
Chakma is the largest with a population of 350,000.
The Jummas are native speakers of Tibeto-Burman
languages
Religiously they are distinct as well, most being
Buddhist, some Hindu and some are Christianized, with only a small number of having converted to
Islam.
They have retained some of their own traditional religious practices

How are they being affected?

Over time the Chittagong Hill Tracts, have been increasing in population, forcing the Jummas people
into closer quarters with the other settlers, forcing them into contact and into globalization, over the
past 65 years.
The settlers have been given the best land, and the military men have being violently and sexually
abusing the men and women in the Jummas tribes.
Since 1971, when Bangladesh gained independence,
the Jummas have experienced murder, torture, rape,
and had their villages burnt down in a genocidal
campaign lead by the settlers.
In 1997, the Jummas signed a peace deal with the
government
Despite signing the peace deal, the Jummas are still
victims of rape and violence.
Not only are the Jummas victims or rape and violence
however they are also victims of theft, as land is
constantly stolen by the government and by settlers
forcing the Jummas to live in inhabitable conditions.
The Jummas are experiencing cultural imperialism as they are exposed the settlers
foreign cultures.

Maasai TribE
Location: Kenya & Tanzania
Population: 300,000
Brief History:

The Maasai originated from the lower Nile valley north of Lake
Turkana. They began migrating around the 15th century, arriving at
what is now north as South Kenya and North Tanzania.

Many ethnic groups that had already formed settlements in the

region were forcibly displaced by the incoming Maasai, while other,
mainly southern Cushtic groups, were assimilated into Maasai society.

What problems do they face?

Their biggest threat coms from game hunters in the

Loliondo region of northern Tanzania.
Maasai villages have been burnt to the ground by
authorities, causing them to flee.
The Loliondo Maasai are now homeless, and without
access to water and grazing land their cattle are dying.

Cultural imperialism:

Maa, the ancient language of the Maasai, has not been documented and is therefore vulnerable to extinction.
Other written languages, such as English and Swahili, are quickly finding their way into our communities
through formal education, religion, and globalization.
Elder Parkesian recalls, Our Fathers never wanted us to go to school but the British colonialists insisted and a
few were reluctantly sent. They knew we would lose our language and culture and then get lost.

The Matss Tribe

We know no boundaries

Total population - 2,200

Location - Live on the banks of the Yaquerana
which marks the international border between Brazil
Peru.

River,
and

Languages - Portuguese or Spanish

Religion - Christian and Animist
Related ethnic groups - Matis and Karubo
Description The Yaquerana river runs through their land, this
the boarder of peru and brazil.

river is

The entire tribe shares this area around the river.

Matss hunt using bow and arrows, traps and
shotguns. Animals such as tapir and paca.
Each community lives close to the riverbank, a wide
of crops grow in their gardens, including staples such
plantain and manioc.

variety
as

Frogs arent just food for the Matses, they also have a practical use. Both men and women to enhance their
hunting ability and courage use one species of green frogs.
Matese also blow tobacco or nene snuff up each others noses to give them strength and energy
Our ancestors always told us that outsiders start conflicts. Just like during the rubber boom, they are coming again to
cause conflict amongst us. MARCOS, MATSS MAN
I dont believe that they are affected by either cultural diffusion or imperialism because they dont trust
outsiders at all.
Problems they face - In 2012, Canadian oil company Pacific Rubiales began to explore for oil on land
inhabited by the Matss and neighbouring uncontacted Indians.The companys oil block 135 lies directly over
an area that has been proposed as a reserve to protect the uncontacted tribes.The $36 million project will see
hundreds of seismic lines cut through 700km2 of forest and wells drilled in search of oil, affecting the
headwaters of three major rivers that are essential to the Matss livelihoods.

The Batak Tribe

Who are they?
The Batak tribe is located in the western Philippines, where they live in the forests of the northern
Palawan. They cultivate, hunt, gather and fish for survival. They have said to have originated from some of the
first populations who entered the Philippines by land bridges about 50,000 years ago. They have lived and thrived
for many years!
Languages:
Northern Branch

Pakpak-Dairi
Alas-Kluet
Karo

Southern Branch

Toba
Angkola
Mangailing

Issues the Batak tribe face today

Government ban on shifting cultivation

o This is their main way of cultivation, more
commonly known as slash-and-burn.
Land seizure, logging, exposure to disease
o These are some of the reasons why the Batak tribe
only has less than 300 members, as opposed to
700 in 1900.
Undernourishment
o The malnutrition of the Batak tribe has caused
them to be more susceptible to diseases like
malaria, measles and tuberculosis
High infant mortality low birth rates
o This has led to young people from the tribe to
marry outside of the tribe.
Loggers hurting their trees and taking the resin from the
bark
o The resin in the trees is very important to the Batak Tribe, and its being taken away by illegal loggers.
Outlawed farming methods
o The Bataks used to depend greatly on their rice yields before their farming practices were outlawed in 1994.
Now they have to mostly depend on gathering fruit, which is quickly depleting their resources.

Cultural Imperialism in the Batak tribe

1. A road was built through Batak in 1956, causing settlers to come to their land. This
caused them to have to leave their land and flee.
2. Many Bataks were in debt in the 1970s because of the demand for forest products.
3. The government has tried to control their resources and how they use them.

Diffusion or Imperialism?
I personally believe that the Batak Tribe has experiences more harmful
cultural imperialism than diffusion as seen with their battle against the Philippine
Government and other groups (eg. Illegal loggers)

The Papuan Tribes of Indonesia

History of the Papuan Tribes and their peoples

There are up to 312 tribes and are all located in New Guinea, some are Uncontacted. The peoples are separated by the
high lands and the low lands. The High lands people are known for sweet potato cultivation and pig husbandry, the low
lands people are known for their skills in hunting and gathering in the wet and swampy lands. All the languages are
different between the tribes but have many similarities between them.

What problems have they faced?

Since the beginning of the Indonesian occupation in 1963 the
Papuan tribes people have been affected by the Indonesian
population. The army and the people have had the most
conflict due to racism as the soldier view the tribes people as
nothing less than animals. The main issue to the people is their
exploitation by the Indonesian government. The government
has exploited the peoples natural resources for great profits.
The military usually gets assigned to protect the tribes but
their presence creates more problems than solutions. The
soldiers are known to kill, abuse and rape the tribe peoples.
The Papuan peoples have taken action and attempt to protest
against the government but are just subjected to more abuse
and violence.

There is definitely evidence of cultural imperialism as the

government uses the people as exploitation for their natural
resources. The Papuans are completely taken advantage of
by their corrupt government. I do not believe there is any
cultural diffusion as all the exploitation is quite obviously
forced on by the Indonesian government and army.

This tribe and their problems can be compared to the Awa

tribes of Brazil. They both have the problem of exploitation of
their natural resources, which causes cultural imperialism
through force of exposure.