Macuna

Except of spoken accounts of a violent past with the southern neighbors, especially the Yauna and Tanimuka Indians, little is known about the early history of the Macuna.

The late 1970s and early 1980s brought a new boom into the region, with the growing of coca leaves for illegal trade, which brought substantial quantities of trade goods and money for the indigenous people who working for the White patrons established in the area.

By the mid-1980s the production of coca leaves ended as abruptly as it began, but shortly after gold has been discovered along the Taraira River, just a few days away from the Macuna territory.

The fur trade, especially the skins of jaguars, ocelots, and otters played an important role in the Macuna economy, until it was prohibited in the 1970s.

In the 1990s the Colombian government created two Indian reservation encompassing most of the Macuna land, which provided them with enhanced control over their territory.