Etnonimia y relaciones interétnicas entre los panos meridionales (siglos XVIII-XX)

Amazonian ethnology has traditionally labelled Pacaguaras, Chacobos, Sinabos or Caripunas as “Southeastern Panoan” groups. However, ethnohistorical analysis reveals that canonical classification hides three important facts. First, that the continuous existence of such categories designating collective ethnic actors through history has not been properly attested –on the contrary, everything suggests that they are contingent constructions which appear, mute or fade according to context. Second, from a comparative standpoint the distinction between “Southeastern Panoans” (Chacobo, Pacaguara, Caripuna) and “Southwestern Panoans” (Yamiaca, Atsahuaca) makes no sense –on the contrary, a diachronic perspective shows that “Southern Panoan” is a more fertile comparative and heuristic concept. Third, that though there certainly are some features that makes the Southern Panoans resemble the “typical Panoans”, their ethnic identity has been forged by a complex set of relationships with societies of different ethnolinguistic affiliation: Araonas, Tacanas, Cayuvavas, Cavineños, Movimas. Therefore, terms such as “Chacobo”, “Pacaguara” or “Caripuna” do not designate stable, close, homogeneous entities –ethnonyms in the classic sense of the term– but generic, relational categories which operate reflecting diverse mediations, connections and contacts between the Southern Panoans and other indigenous groups; jesuit, franciscan and secular missionaries; rubber barons; explorers and militar agents sent by Spain and Portugal during the colonial context and by Bolivia, Brasil and Perú during the period of republican consolidation and frontier dispute between the rising nations.