Orinoco-parima: Indian Tribes from Venezuela - The Collection Cisneros - Tapa dura

Since the discovery of the "New World", Indian societies have been fighting the process of cultural alienation. Some have managed to preserve their identity while others have successfully come to terms with what is new. Representative of these cultures are the societies living between the Upper Orinoco in Venezuela and Parima Mountain Range. This is the region of the legendary Lake Parima where "El Dorado" -- the golden man -- was said to have lived. In the 1950s, Edgardo Gonzalez Nino lived among the Amazon Indians and gathered artifacts from these cultures. On the Upper Orinoco, he collected over a thousand objects which, a few years ago, were acquired by the Fundacion Cisneros in Caracas. This book presents this stunning collection, containing masks, ritual objects, ornaments, feather decorations, cooking utensils, and weapons. Essays by acknowledged experts provide excellent insights into the relationships between the material and spiritual culture of these groups of Indians.