Identification. The Kashinawa are an indigenous people of Amazonia who share a common identity and language. Although they accept the denomination "Kashinawa" ( kashi, "bat," and nawa, "outsiders, foreigners"), their autodenomination is "Huni Kuin" ("real men"— huni, "man," and kuin, "real") as opposed to "Huni Kuinman" ("notreal men," i.e., any non-Kashinawa). As Huni Kuin they speak a common language, hancha kuin ("real words").
Location. The Kashinawa live in approximately twenty settlements scattered along the upper reaches of two of the main tributaries of the Amazon, the Juruá and the Purus, or their headwater tributaries, in both Brazil and Peru.
Demography. There are approximately 3,000 Kashinawa, 2,000 living in the Brazilian state of Acre and 1,000 in the Peruvian state of Coronel Portillo.
Linguistic Affiliation. The Kashinawa language belongs to the Panoan Family.
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