Badania etnograficzne Borysa Malkina w świetle listów do Heleny Przestalskiej-Malkin. Wyprawa do Indian Kofán

Abstract

Borys Malkin (1917–2009) was anthropologist, enthomologist and traveller. He dedicated almost 40 years of his life to field research in South America. In this period he visited many different tribes and collected, a valuable Indian’s ethnographic materials. Nowadays these unique exhibits are in many important museums in America, Europe and also in Poland. Borys Malkin researched the Kofán Indians from Santa Rosa de Sucumbíos settlement. This tribe inhabit the region of Amazon tropical forests across Ecuadorian – Colombian boundary. He visited the Kofán people twice: in 1970 and 1971 and this period was really valuable for his researches. This ethnic group became the most documented from among all Indian tribes which he has ever investigated. He collected ethnographic materials such as: wood pots, clay pots, gourd pots, hamacs, blowguns, spears, fishing-nets, necklaces and plume ornaments and supplemented its by films and photos. Malkin wrote reports from his voyages in letters to Helena Przestalska, who became his wife in 1972. This correspondances and articles was publisched by Malkin in magazine „Poznaj świat” and his book Odchodzący świat, let us know the life of researcher.