The Culture of an Isolated Amazon Tribe

Most humans on Earth have been influenced deeply by their native culture, which was influenced by thousands of years of trade across cultures. But there are some exceptions, like the Matsigenka, an indigenous people who live deep in the Peruvian Amazon and are completely isolated from the rest of the world, providing a unique view into a culture that develops without almost any outside contact.

Padre Andres Ferrero, a Catholic missionary who worked with the Matsigenka people in the Peruvian Amazon, provided us with a record of how this group lived, which was surprising. Ferrero's biggest surprise was how they lived an independent and somewhat isolated way of life, in contrast to our Western view of humans as social beings who thrive in and are defined by, their relationships and interactions within societies.

Unlike many societies where communal living, social structures, and close interpersonal relationships are the norm, the Matsigenka maintain a more individualistic lifestyle. They tend to live in small, family-based units rather than large communities, and their social interactions are often limited compared to more collective societies. They rarely show emotion across people, with kisses and hugs being rare even when months have passed without two people seeing each other.

Since Aristotle defined “man as a social animal” and stated that “society is something that precedes the individual,” the Western world has always taken it for granted that this is a natural condition of human beings. However, the Matsigenka example suggests that the degree of sociability can vary greatly among different cultures and societies and that human nature is diverse and context-dependent.

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