Cuiva - Settlements

Each band lives and travels within an area of a few thousand square kilometers, which is recognized by all to be its own territory. Within this area, there are no permanent settlements and only a few sites that people occupy year after year. A camping site is essentially a small section of the forest where all can comfortably hang their hammocks. Since food resources are often localized, the choice of a particular site becomes a choice of what to eat and is thus a matter for debate within the group. On average, a camping site is abandoned after a week, with slight variations between the dry season, when moves are more frequent, and the rainy season, when each trip is usually longer because many parts of the forest are flooded and not suitable for occupation. During the rainy season, the Cuiva use palm leaves to build lean-to shelters, a task that normally requires less than thirty minutes and is unnecessary during the dry season.