Leaving the Wild, and Rather Liking the Change

Read a New York Times article about indigenous people in Columbia who are leaving the forest and answer the following questions.











a. Who are the Nukak-Makú?
b. How do these people live?
c. What concepts are difficult for the Nukak to understand?
d. Why did dozens of Nukak leave their community in 2003?
e. According to anthropologists, what Western influences may have compromised the Nukak population?
f. How far did the group described in the article travel to reach civilization?
g. What theories do officials have on why the Nukak recently arrived in San José del Guaviare?
h. What is a big concern for those involved in providing food and clothing to the Nukak?
i. What has happened to the Nukak who appeared in modern society in 2003?
j. How does the author of the article illustrate the fate of the Nukak in Aguabonita?
k. What elements of their indigenous culture do these people continue to follow?
l. What must the Nukak learn in order to function in modern society?
m. What factors do the Nukak consider important when deciding where to live?

Click below to check your answers.


a. Who are the Nukak-Makú?
They are hunter-gatherers who live in the Amazon rainforest.
b. How do these people live?
They travel over hundred of miles of forest killing monkeys with blowguns and collecting berries from the ground in the forest.
c. What concepts are difficult for the Nukak to understand?
"The Nukak have no concept of money, of property, of the role of government, or even of the existence of a country called Colombia. They ask whether the planes that fly overhead are moving on some sort of invisible road."
d. Why did dozens of Nukak leave their community in 2003?
Colombia's relentless civil war had got too close too their land and forced them to look for a safer place.
e. According to anthropologists, what Western influences may have compromised the Nukak population?
The Nukak do not have natural defenses against common Western diseases like influenza (flu) and colds which has probably killed a large number of them.
f. How far did the group described in the article travel to reach civilization?
They traveled about 200 miles on foot.
g. What theories do officials have on why the Nukak recently arrived in San José del Guaviare?
Some people think that soldiers from Columbia's civil war told them to leave, some think that farmers who are going coca (use to make cocaine) forced them to leave, and others think that another Nukak tribe forced them out.
h. What is a big concern for those involved in providing food and clothing to the Nukak?
They could become dependent upon the food and clothing given to them by the government.
i. What has happened to the Nukak who appeared in modern society in 2003?
They don't work, they haven't learned Spanish, and they just lay around in hammocks all day.
j. How does the author of the article illustrate the fate of the Nukak in Aguabonita?
The author presents them as very happy and amazed that the government would take care of them.
k. What elements of their indigenous culture do these people continue to follow?
"The men still go into the jungle, searching for monkeys, a delicacy the Nukak cannot seem to live without. Monkeys are grilled, dismembered and boiled, then eaten piece by piece. The women still spend their time carefully weaving intricate wristbands and hammocks, using threads from palm leaves."
l. What must the Nukak learn in order to function in modern society?
They need to learn how to grow food like plantains and yucca. They say they would like their children to go to school.
m. What factors do the Nukak consider important when deciding where to live?
They want a place with nuts, monkeys, water, and no soldiers.

See the full New York Times lesson here.