Although each indigenous nation has its own culture with its own habits and customs, there are some customs that are common to practically all indigenous peoples.
Characteristics of the Indians
- The Indians feed exclusively on food taken from nature (fish, animal meat, fruits, vegetables, tubers).
- They usually take a bath several times a day in rivers, lakes and streams.
- The men go hunting in groups.
- They do ceremonies and rituals with a lot of dance and music. They usually paint their bodies at these events.
- From an early age, children are trained for the activities they will have to perform in adult life.
- They perform rituals between the child phase and the adult phase.
- They live in houses made of natural elements (tree trunks and branches, straw, dry leaves, mud).
- They make art objects (pots and ceramic pots, masks, necklaces) with materials from nature. This activity is carried out by the women of the tribes.
- They treat illnesses with herbs from nature and often perform healing rituals, led by a chief.
- They have the habit of dividing almost everything they own, mainly food.
- They have a religion based on the existence of forces and spirits of nature.
- The best known weapon of the indigenous people is the bow and arrow. However, they make and use other types of weapons, such as the chuzo (wood with a sharp iron tip), the clava (wooden stick), and the blowpipe (tubes made of bamboo used to shoot darts or arrows at through the breath).