Ticuna Figures: Ceremonial Art from the Colombian Amazon
Carved from balsa wood, dressed in yanchama bark cloth, and painted with natural Amazon pigments. Connected to the Pelazón — a coming-of-age ceremony practiced for generations. Each figure is one of a kind.
What Are Ticuna Ceremonial Figures?
Ticuna ceremonial figures — known as pucuna dolls or Muñecos de la Pelazón — are made by the Ticuna people of the Colombian Amazon, a community living in the tri-border region where Colombia, Peru, and Brazil meet. Each figure is carved from lightweight balsa wood, then dressed in yanchama — a natural bark cloth made from Amazonian fig tree bark — and decorated with geometric symbols using natural pigments in black, red, white, and yellow.
These figures are connected to the Pelazón: one of the most important rites of passage in Ticuna culture, celebrating a young woman’s transition into adulthood. The dolls embody ancestral and spiritual figures tied to this tradition.
What Defines Them
Balsa + Yanchama
Lightweight balsa wood carved by hand. Dressed in yanchama — bark cloth from the Amazonian fig tree, prepared by soaking, pounding, and drying. Each piece of bark cloth is unique.
Natural Pigments
Black, red, white, and yellow from seeds, minerals, and plant extracts of the Colombian Amazon. Bold geometric symbols painted by hand — each motif carries meaning within Ticuna cosmology.
Spirit Animals
Figures represent ancestral spirits, totemic animals, and mythological beings. The crocodile embodies protection of waterways. Each animal choice reflects Ticuna relationships with the Amazon ecosystem.
See the clothing code below →Skirts, Pants, and What They Mean
In Ticuna tradition, what a figure wears is not decorative — it tells you what the animal represents. The distinction is between clan animals, which embody family lineage and ancestral wisdom, and mythological beings, which are beloved spiritual figures but do not represent clans.
Skirts → Clan Animals
Skirts symbolize old age and wisdom. Figures wearing skirts represent clan animals — the emblematic animals of extended families. These are ancestral figures that carry the identity of a lineage.
Deer, Jaguar (as elder or shaman)
Pants → Mythological Beings
Figures wearing pants are not clan animals. They are mythological beings — powerful, beloved characters in Ticuna cosmology, but they do not represent family lineage. They cannot wear skirts.
Monkey, Crocodile, Jaguar (as young warrior)
Deer
Clan Animal · Wears Skirt
The deer represents an extended family — a clan. It is an ancestral animal, a symbol of lineage and identity within the community. Depicted wearing a skirt to signify wisdom and elder status.
Monkey
Mythological Figure · Wears Pants
There is no monkey clan. The monkey is a mythological trickster — playful, mischievous, spontaneous — much like Hanuman in Hindu tradition or Sun Wukong in Chinese mythology. A beloved figure, but not an ancestor.
Jaguar
Clan Animal · Skirt or Pants
The jaguar represents a clan — but uniquely, it can wear either garment. A jaguar in a skirt is an elder, a shaman, a guide. A jaguar in pants is young, a warrior. The clothing tells you the jaguar's role and age.
Crocodile
Mythological Being · Wears Pants
The crocodile is not a clan animal. It is a mythical guardian — protector of the water in rivers and streams, and protector of the animals that inhabit the riverbanks. A powerful spiritual figure, not an ancestor.
"The Ticuna distinguish between animals. Clan animals wear skirts because skirts symbolize old age and wisdom. Mythological figures wear pants — they are beloved, but they are not ancestors."
The Making
How It's Made
Balsa wood is harvested from the rainforest — lightweight, workable, traditional to Amazon craft.
The figure is carved by hand using traditional tools. The form reflects the specific spirit or animal being embodied.
Yanchama bark cloth is prepared — soaked, pounded, dried — then cut and fitted to dress the figure.
Geometric symbols are painted using natural Amazon pigments in black, red, white, and yellow. Each motif carries meaning within Ticuna cosmology.
Each figure is unique. No two are ever identical — the artisan’s individual vision within centuries of cultural form.
Cultural Significance
The Pelazón Ceremony: What These Figures Mean
The Pelazón is one of the most important rites of passage in Ticuna culture — a ceremony marking a young woman’s transition into adulthood. It is celebrated with music, dancing, storytelling, and feasting, and it has been practiced by Ticuna communities along the upper Amazon River for generations.
Within the ceremony, pucuna dolls — the figures sold on this page — represent spiritual and ancestral beings tied to Ticuna cosmology: protectors of waterways, guides through transition, animal totems that embody specific qualities. Each figure in the ceremony is a living link between the young woman being honored and the tradition she is entering.
Historically, the figures were made exclusively by men. Today, both men and women participate in their creation — a contemporary evolution that ensures the tradition continues across generations. This is why authentic Ticuna figures are never standardized: each is a personal expression within a collective form, carrying the maker’s hand and the ceremony’s meaning into every piece.
The Ticuna live in the Amazonian Trapezium — the tri-border region where Colombia, Peru, and Brazil meet. RFB sources figures directly from artisans in the Colombian Ticuna community, purchased at fair prices that support both the makers and the continuation of this tradition. Learn how we source →
Questions About Ticuna Figures
What are Ticuna ceremonial figures?
Traditional figures — called pucuna dolls or Muñecos de la Pelazón — made by the Ticuna people of the Colombian Amazon. Carved from balsa wood, dressed in yanchama bark cloth, and painted with natural pigments. Connected to the Pelazón coming-of-age ceremony and Ticuna ancestral spiritual traditions.
What is the Pelazón ceremony?
One of the most important rites of passage in Ticuna culture, celebrating a young woman’s transition into adulthood with music, dancing, storytelling, and feasting. Pucuna dolls are central to this ceremony, representing ancestral and spiritual figures. Once made exclusively by men, today women also participate in creating the figures — ensuring the tradition carries forward.
What is yanchama bark cloth?
Natural bark cloth made from the inner bark of Amazonian fig trees (Cecropia or related species). Prepared by soaking and pounding the bark until it becomes flexible and textile-like. The Ticuna use it to dress ceremonial figures — each piece of yanchama is unique in texture and color, making every figure one of a kind even before painting begins.
Why do some figures wear skirts and others wear pants?
In Ticuna tradition, clothing tells you what an animal represents. Skirts symbolize old age and wisdom — figures wearing skirts are clan animals, the emblematic animals of extended families and lineages (such as the deer or an elder jaguar). Pants indicate a mythological being that is not a clan animal — beloved spiritual figures like the monkey (a trickster) or the crocodile (a river guardian), but not ancestors. The jaguar is unique: it wears a skirt as an elder or shaman, and pants as a young warrior.
What materials are Ticuna figures made from?
Lightweight balsa wood, carved by hand. Yanchama bark cloth, prepared from Amazonian fig tree bark. Natural pigments in black, red, white, and yellow — derived from seeds, minerals, and plant extracts of the Colombian Amazon. All materials come directly from the rainforest environment the Ticuna have inhabited for centuries.
Are Ticuna figures authentic? How can I tell?
Authentic Ticuna figures are carved and assembled entirely by hand. Each shows subtle variations in carving, painting, and yanchama work — no molds, no machines, no two identical. Look for hand-carved balsa, natural yanchama bark cloth (not fabric), and painted geometric symbols in the traditional four-color palette. RFB purchases directly from Ticuna artisans in the Colombian Amazon.
Where do the Ticuna people live?
The Ticuna are one of the largest Indigenous groups in the Amazon, living across the tri-border region where Colombia, Peru, and Brazil meet — an area known as the Amazonian Trapezium. The Colombian Ticuna live primarily along the upper Amazon River. RFB sources figures from artisans in this Colombian community.
Where can I buy authentic Ticuna figures?
RFB Woven Art is one of very few US sources for authentic Ticuna ceremonial figures with proper cultural context — sourced directly from Ticuna artisans in the Colombian Amazon. Each piece is purchased at fair prices that support the community and the continuation of this tradition. See also our guide to Colombian Werregue baskets for a second distinct Colombian tradition.
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