Multilingual Networks Past and Present: Insights from Naduhup Languages of Northwest Amazonia

Abstract

Abstract: In Amazonia, interfluvial groups such as the Naduhup (Makú) peoples of the northwest Amazon have tended to be less visible than riverine peoples in the historical record, but are also more likely to maintain their cultural and linguistic identity over time. Hence the languages of these groups may offer insights into Indigenous histories that have otherwise been largely overlooked or obliterated. Lexicon, grammar, and discourse indicate that the Naduhup peoples have long been deeply integrated within multilingual, interactive regional networks—some still extant, but others long obscured by their disruption centuries ago through the colonial onslaught.