Threads of Life and Death: A Photo Essay on Hunting and Fishing in Northwest Amazonia

This essay describes the enchanted, sylvan world of a peasant community from La Macarena, a protected area located in Colombia. Often depicted as invaders or destroyers of natural resources, these peasant societies have had little place in popular and academic representations of Amazonia. Through the use of images that depict some of the tools and practices associated with hunting and fishing, this essay aims to describe some of the elements involved in human–animal relationships. Concretely, images are used as a means to illustrate (1) the role played by rivers and fishing economies in the historical settlement process of this region, and (2) the symbolic practices involved in hunting.