Nahua

Excerpt from “Who lives in the Bolivian Amazon?”

Estimate: Unknown

Language: Nahua

Location: Near the Manuripi River in the Department of Pando

The Nahua are hunters and gatherers whose exact population totals are unknown. 

Experts say they always sleep around a fire and that they all eat around a common pot.

Their songs are monotonous and transative, rather sad. They prefer peculiar dances.

 It is said that they lived painted, in groups of several families to defend themselves against aggressors. It is probable that the Nahua of Bolivia have been exterminated.

This illustration is of the Nahua, from my book “Who lives in the Bolivian Amazon?” They are an Indigenous group from Bolivia’s Amazon whose presence has almost vanished. While translating and deconstructing the writings of Bolivian anthropologist Chaco, I was struck by how little is known about them.

My mind goes to how memory and imagination blur. How much of history, especially Indigenous history, is pieced together from fragments, stories, or even silence?

For me, this piece is about documentation by illustrating what they looked like at one time. Even if only through art.

Location of the Nahua