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The Shipibo-Conibo are an indigenous people along the Ucayali River in the Amazon rainforest in Peru. Formerly two groups, they eventually became one tribe through intermarriage and communal rituals and are currently known as the Shipibo-Conibo people.
Shipibo-Conibo women make beadwork and textiles and are known for their pottery, decorated with maze-like red and black geometric patterns. While these ceramics were traditionally made for use in the home, an expanding tourist market has provided many households with extra income through the sale of pots and other craft items. They also prepare chapo, a sweet plantain beverage.
The Shipibo of the village of Paoyhan used to have a diet of fish, Cassava, and fruits. The situation has deteriorated because of global weather changes, however, and now, with drought followed by flooding, most mature fruit trees have died, and some of the banana trees and plantains are struggling. Global increases in energy and food prices have risen due to deforestation and erosion along the Ucayali River.
Contact with the developed world—including the governments of Peru and Brazil—has been sporadic over the past three centuries. The Shipibo are noted for a rich and complex cosmology, which is tied directly to the art and artifacts they produce. Christian missionaries have worked to convert them since the late 17th century, particularly the Franciscans.
The population numbers for this group have fluctuated in the last decades, between approximately 11,000 (Wise and Ribeiro, 1978) to as many as 25,000 individuals (Hern 1994).
Like all other indigenous populations in the Amazon basin, the Shipibo-Conibo are threatened by severe pressure from outside influences, such as oil speculation, logging, narco-trafficking, and conservation.
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