The Matapí are a small people of the middle Caquetá and Vaupés river systems, part of the broader network of Tukanoan and Arawakan peoples that have inhabited this region for millennia. Like their neighbours, the Matapí organise social life around the principle of linguistic exogamy — the practice of marrying outside one's own language group — which has created a web of relationships and knowledge exchange across the communities of the Vaupés and Pira-Paraná.
Matapí artisan work and ceremonial knowledge reflect the ecological systems of the middle Caquetá — a forest environment of extraordinary biodiversity that has shaped the material culture, food knowledge, and ritual practices of the communities that have lived within it. The baskets, woven objects, and other artisan forms produced by Matapí artisans carry this relationship in their materials and patterns.
Their representation at Dulce Amazónica is part of the embassy model's commitment to including the full diversity of the Colombian Amazon's peoples — not only the larger and more documented communities, but the smaller peoples whose knowledge is equally deep and equally irreplaceable.
This community is one of many Indigenous peoples whose presence, knowledge, and artisan work are at the heart of what Dulce Amazónica does. Their ambassador brings that presence here directly — to Guatapé, Colombia.