Maloca

A maloca is an ancestral long house built by Indigenous people of the Amazon, notably in Colombia and Brazil.

[1] Each community has a single maloca with its distinct characteristics.

[2] Several families with patrilineal relations live together in a maloca, distributed around the long house in different compartments.

In general, the chief of the local descent group lives in the compartment nearest to the back wall of the long house.

During festivals and in formal ceremonies, which involve dances for males, the long house space is rearranged; the centre of the long house is the most important area where the dance takes place.