Takana is an Native American people living in the departments of Beni and La Paz in Bolivia . The total number is about 4 thousand people, of which 3 thousand live in Bolivia and about a thousand people live in Peru . Together with the Indians, Cavinigne, Chama, Araon, Reesano form the linguistic group of takana, akin to the pan of the pan-takan family. Quechua and Spanish are also common.
History
Takana is an ancient people who were influenced by the Incas, and earlier, probably, the Tiahuanaco civilization. Contact with the Spanish conquerors as early as 1537. Unlike other tribes, relations with the Europeans developed peacefully. For example, the Chama Indians attacked the colonists until the beginning of the 20th century . Although Catholic missionaries have been trying to convert takan to Christianity since the end of the sixteenth century, pre-Christian ideas prevail in spiritual culture. There are several categories of shamans - from simple healers to servants of the cult of the supreme deity (which is identified with the peak in the Andes ). Takana retain their own mythology.
Main occupations
Economic activity - agriculture , fishing , hunting . Grown: bananas , maize , sweet cassava , sweet potatoes , cotton , pepper , etc. Many men work as rubber pickers. Pottery and weaving, the manufacture of dugout boats, are developed. The community consists of a group of related families led by a leader and a shaman of the highest rank (Janakona). They live mainly in small villages. The houses are rectangular under a gable roof, the walls consist of vertical poles, the roof is made of palm leaves. Men's clothing - a long shirt (cotton, less often from bast), women's clothing - a loincloth and a cape.
Links
http://enc.mail.ru/article/1900020979 (inaccessible link)