The Katukina Pano are an indigenous group of people who live in Brazil, state of Acre. According to Funasa, there were 585 people in the group. They speak the Pano language.

The Katukina consider contacts with other indigenous groups important as a method to reformulate and construct social relations. Pe. Tastevin, at the start of the 20th century, defined them as "Panos of all the races".

According to Paul Rivet, an anthropologist, "Katukina" or "Catuquina" is a generic term which has been associated to five different groups of people, geographically near to each other (Rivet 1920). Today there are only three groups: one near the Jutaí river in Amazonas, and two groups who speak Pano in Acre.

Language

The Katukina language is part of the Pano linguistic family. Nasalization is one of the most notable features. Most words are disyllabic, and new words are formed by combining two words or including one or more suffixes. There's no distinction in gender.

All the Katukina speak their own native language in their tribe, and they only use portuguese when they talk to non-indians, and less than half of the population is proficient in speaking it.

Location

The Katukina live in two Indigenous lands. The Gregório River reservation was the first to be established in Acre in 1982, extending over 92,000 hectares. The Yawanawá live in the southern portion of the reservation. The Campinas River reservation was demarcated in 1984, and occupies over 32,000 hectares. This reservation is divided by the BR-364 highway (Rio Branco - Cruzeiro do Sul) from east to west.

External links

*Katukina Pano at socioambiental.org