YAGUA DANCERS

The Yagua are a fairly numerous tribe inhabiting the area along the Peru-Colombia border in Western Amazonia. Yagua means "red" and comes from the tribe's practice of body-painting with extract from the pod of achiote or lip-stick tree (Bixa orellana, see lipstick fruit). The dances are comprised of simple movements, accompanied by chanting, drumming and the whistles of bamboo flutes.