Abstract

This is a detailed portrait of how an aboriginal tribe of the remote Amazonian region understands the cosmic dimensions of their partnership with the rainforest. Anthropologist Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff, who spent most of his life working in Colombia among the Indian tribes of the North-West Amazon, explores the world-view of the Tukano Indians: their view of the forest as a model of the cosmos; the master of the animals; their complex and multi-dimensional bond with their environment; and their social and sexual restrictions in order to harmonise with the rainforest.