This visual research is part of the PhD dissertation at La Universidad Nacional de Colombia, of the anthropologist Felipe Cabrera Orozco, Nomadísmos, desplazamientos y trasegares: Ontologías múltiples de la indianidad nómada tras la emergencia de los Nükak.
The Nükak people speak of multiple realities. They believe in three spiritual worlds, one of which is the physical world we inhabit (Yee), one above (Jea) and one under (Bak). They travel to these other two spiritual worlds through dreams or after death. In their worldview, these worlds form an interconnected cosmo-system: when one is affected, also the other ones are impacted.
The Nükak people speak of multiple realities. They believe in three spiritual worlds, one of which is the physical world we inhabit (Yee), one above (Jea) and one under (Bak). They travel to these other two spiritual worlds through dreams or after death. In their worldview, these worlds form an interconnected cosmo-system: when one is affected, also the other ones are impacted.
Since the 1980s, however, the Nükak have faced a social crisis due to the presence of armed groups involved in the Colombian conflict within their territory. This has resulted in direct negative effects on their community, such as violence and murders, as well as the introduction of new diseases brought by outsiders, which have decimated their elders and a significant portion of their population. Ultimately, the Nükak were forced to leave their ancestral lands, leading to a violent displacement until nowadays. This disruption not only affected their physical existence but also caused a profound imbalance in their identity and the interconnected spiritual realities they hold.
For the Nükak, their identity is deeply intertwined with their ancestral territory, which they perceive as an extension of their own bodies—specifically, the territory is understood as a female body. Their territory is not just a piece of land; it encompasses all the living organisms that interact within it, such as plants, animals, and even other indigenous communities in the northern Amazon. The Nükak's sense of self is thus inseparable from the land they inhabit and all that it sustains.
Link for the complete PhD dissertation document of Felipe Cabrera Orozco:
https://repositorio.unal.edu.co/handle/unal/79222
Link for the complete PhD dissertation document of Felipe Cabrera Orozco:
https://repositorio.unal.edu.co/handle/unal/79222
Nükak body map over an cartography
Nükak body map over an cartography
Nükak body map over an cartography
