Cofán Indians help map rain forest, produce DVDs on disappearing tribal traditions (fwd link)

[phil cash cash]

Cofán Indians help map rain forest, produce DVDs on disappearing tribal
traditions

Discovery of oil in their South American territory changed tribal life, and
they've asked the Field Museum to help

By William Mullen | Chicago Tribune reporter
10:03 PM CDT, August 3, 2008

An amused smile spread across the face of Martín Criollo as the 30-year-old
Cofán Indian from a remote South American reserve looked over a collection of
artifacts in the anthropological storage area of the Field Museum.

He had spotted one of his own shirts, a loose-fitting traditional garment called
a cushma.

"I literally took it off his back when we were in Ecuador last year,"
sociologist Daniel Brinkmeier said. "It was a good example of typical but
traditional clothing, so I asked Martín if we could buy it."

The Cofán are a rain forest tribe that barely had contact with the outside world
until an American company struck oil on their land in 1966. Since then, members
have struggled to hang on to their lands, traditions and culture in the face of
the invading 20th and 21st Centuries.

Tribal leaders have enlisted the Field Museum in their effort, inviting
Brinkmeier and two other museum scientists to Ecuador last year to gather and
preserve about 100 Cofán artifacts, including beadwork, feathered shamanic
headdresses, wooden flutes, ceramic griddles, blowguns, darts and spears.

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-cofan-04-aug04,0,7807850.story