10/11/2015
A Brief History of Tambopata
“Tambopata” is derived from two Quechua words that mean “inn” or “place of accommodation” (tambo) and “high point” (pata). The reason why the rather flat, lowland rainforests of Tambopata received this name is not forthcoming but may reflect Andean foothill areas of Tambopata that were visited by Incan peoples. Despite its Quechua name, the region wasn’t really used by the Incans for much of their history. Tambopata was first settled thousands of years ago by indigenous, Amazonian ethnies such as the Ese’Eja. Living in small villages, they cultivated yuca and hunted in the surrounding forests. The plants of the rainforests also provided them with building materials and a wide variety of medicine.
During the Spanish colonial period, access to the Tambopata region was so difficult that it was largely ignored and left to its own devices. This changed at the beginning of the twentieth century during the Peruvian rubber boom. As people from outside the region searched Tambopata and many other areas in southeastern Peru for rubber trees, they frequently came into conflict with indigenous groups. Many locals were enslaved and perished from diseases brought by the new colonists. Although the rubber boom didn’t last that long, it made a big impact on indigenous groups of the Tambopata region and their populations declined as a result.
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