Akawaio - Settlements

The settlement pattern is one of part-time occupation of a central village with family gardens nearby. Villages traditionally numbered from 60 to 80 people but now reach 600 to 800. Akawaio have a formal organization, a church, and, today, a school. Traditional sites were, for security, located inland from a navigable river, in a forest clearing, or in the preferred white-sand savanna areas. A nearby stream and forest with good soil for gardening are still mandatory. Houses are oblong, round, or square, with timber trames, leaf-thatched roof, bark or stake walls for protection against night cold and marauders, and two opposed doors. Each nuclear family customarily maintains a hearth around which hammocks are slung and belongings are stored in the roof space above. Open huts are used as kitchens, for informal meals, and for family gatherings. In the 1950s an elevated square house of planks, a wood-shingle or tin roof, windows, and internal partitions was introduced with limited success. Separate nuclear-family dwellings are now preferred.