Aboriginals Of Colombia

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28471, 28 December 1957, Page 3

Aboriginals Of Colombia

Forbidden Jungle. By Ross Salmon. Hodder and Stoughton. 191 pp.

The Special study of the author of this interesting and informative work is the origins and customs of the Indian tribes inhabiting the dense jungle areas of Colombia. On this his second, visit to that relatively little-known South American Republic Mr Salmon’s main purpose was to establish contact with the Motilon Indians, a fierce and inaccessible tribe dwelling! in the Sierra de Motilon some 200 miles inland from the Caribbean Sea. This was a hazardous experiment, for the Colombian Indians collectively abhor all white men, whose incursions into their country—beginning with the Spanish Conquistadores—invariably spelt dispossession and hardship, often accompanied by nameless brutalities.

Primed with this knowledge Mr Salmon pluckily decided to go into the country unarmed, a fact which probably saved him the fate which has overtaken many goldprospectors and other adventurers whose defensive weapons have paradoxically led to their swift murder at Indian hands. The author’s journey through Indian country was both uncomfortable and perilous, but he did succeed in breaking down prejudice and even achieving a grudging hospitality by his pacific approach and the proffering of gifts. He was also privileged to see some tribal rites, notably the “second burial,” a widespread Indian custom, which takes place about two years after the death of the person concerned. By that time the corpse is reduced to a skeleton, so it is assumed that his spirit has been released from the flesh, and relatives ceremonially mourn him in the fashion of an Irish wake.

After many adventures, the author succeeded in locating and visiting the Motilon, who are divided into two tribes—one being little larger than pigmies and the other a race of great strength and fine physical proportions—but owing to the unlucky fact that they mistook a tin of vitamin pills for cartridges he only just escaped murder at their hands, and was unable to pursue the investigations which had been the object of his journey. In a final chapter Mr Ross stresses the necessity for disarming their suspicions if any knowledge of the Motilons’ history and customs is to be gained. There are some really excellent photographs both of the people and the country they inhabit in a book that can be warmly recommended to anyone interested in aboriginals.