Witoto

Witoto, South American Indians of southeastern Colombia and northern Peru, belonging to an isolated language group. There were more than 31 Witotoan tribes in an aboriginal population of several thousand. Exploitation, disease, and assimilation had reduced the Witoto to fewer than 1,000 individuals at the latest estimate. The greatest decline occurred during their exploitation as rubber gatherers at the turn of the 20th century. The most important surviving groups were the Witoto proper, the Bora...