Introduction

1Social imaginaries build realities that influence the relationships that are woven between individuals or social groups. Although they are based on subjectivity and imagination, they have a significant impact on such relationships.

2These imaginaries are built up, in some cases, during a long-term historical process, created from different voices and discursive forms.

3For tourism purposes, they can determine, to a large extent, the tourist’s choices, their itineraries and their experience in the territory, as well as tourist advertisements and products and the roles of the participating actors.

4The analysis of the social imaginary and particularly of the tourist imaginary allows us to understand the tensions and dynamics of the relationships that are woven between tourists and local people.

6Many films that have depicted the Amazon, but some classics such as Aguirre or the Wrath of God (1972) and Fitzcarraldo (1982) by Werner Herzog stand out; more recent ones include, Apaporis, Secret of the Jungle (2012) by Antonio Dorado, The Grip of the Snake, and currently, on Netflix, the production Green Border.
Literature has also constructed an imaginary of the jungle, as the "Green Hell", recreated in the novel La Vorágine (1924) by José Eustasio Rivera, "which was portrayed as the echo of wild nature, where men were infected - in a kind of mimesis - with the same wild condition” (Pineda, 2005, p.122), a novel that was compulsory reading for schoolchildren during the twentieth century.

7Some other novels that have the Amazon as a backdrop are: Lost in the Amazon (1978) by Germán Castro Caicedo; The River of desolation: a Journey through the Amazon (2006) by Javier Rerverté; the historical novel, The Conquest of the Amazon (2000) by Edward Rosset; and the trilogy about the conquest of the Amazon by William Ospina: Ursúa (2005), The Country of Cinnamon (2008) and The Snake without Eyes (2012).

The chronicles of the Indians, such as the literature by travelers, expeditionaries, explorers, novels, and cinema, have built both the social imaginary of this territory and of the indigenous communities that inhabit it, which is reflected in the imaginary created in tourist activities. Thus, in tourist practices, the representations and images that are developed for the promotion of the destinations of the Amazon are inspired by the social imaginary about the indigenous communities and, generally, the most “exotic” or “authentic” elements of their cultures.

8As a consequence, a seductive game is presented: on the one hand, there are images made by tourism agents that seek to attract travelers to a still pristine and untouched world, where authenticity is the main merchandise (Cohen 1979; 1989; Errington and Gewertz 1989; Simondson 1995 cited by Salazar, N., 2006, p. 104), which is constructed through the "tourist gaze" (Urry, 2002). On the other, the representations that the local communities make about themselves, are more similar to the external images projected on them, so that the imaginary of the tourist becomes a reality. The power relations alternate between them although, in general, the tour operators are the ones who have the last word because they “pay” to see what they have “sold” to tourists, thus constructing the staged authenticities, as described by MacCannell (2013). The insertion of these communities into global system is demonstrated by generating ruptures in the pretense of showing tourists a culture not permeated by external forces.

I. Methodology

9To understand the social and tourist imaginaries concerning indigenous communities, secondary sources were analyzed to develop the theoretical-conceptual framework (Gravari-Barbas and Graburn, 2012; Hiernaux, 2002; Lindón and Hiernaux, 2012; MacCannell, 2003; Debarbieux, Staszak, and Tebbaa, 2012; Silva, 2013). On the other hand, primary sources were also collected: narratives and stories in chronicles of the Indies (Gaspar de Carvajal), tourist guides (Lonely Planet, le Petit Futé), websites of tourism advertizing in the Colombian Amazon and travel blogs. A survey of thirty-two students who visited the region was carried out. The survey was undertaken in order to learn the perceptions that tourists have about the Amazon and its indigenous communities, as well as to determine the most visited places, the means through which they obtained knowledge of the Amazon and its indigenous communities, and the ways they lived their experience with each other.

10A field visit was also made to the municipalities of Leticia and Puerto Nariño as well as to the Isla de los Micos and Macedonia. Such field data illustrates the touristic opportunities that include indigenous communities as well as the relationships that are woven between visitors and host populations.

II. Social and tourist imaginary

11The perspective of the social and tourist imaginaries - understood as both subjective and as a manifestation of the human condition associated with the imagination - allows us to understand the contemporary dynamics that occur both in the visiting territories and in the present relations between residents and tourists (Gravari-Barbas and Graburn, 2012; Hiernaux, 2002; MacCannell, 2003).
These imaginaries are built in various stages: before, during and after the trip, and through stories associated with tourism or independent of it. They also incorporate family and social experiences as well as narratives and stories embodied in literature, film, plastic media and social networks, among other sources.

Tourism agents, meanwhile, circulate such imaginaries, mediating them for their purposes (Debarbieux, 2012) and promoting the resignification of territories, landscapes and cultural practices, transforming them into consumer products (Gravari-Barbas and Graburn, 2012), creating new local identities (Salazar cited in Gravari-Barbas and Graburn, 2012) and thus modifying the way in which local communities see and represent themselves (Debarbieux, Staszak, and Tebbaa, 2012).

12A relevant aspect of social imaginaries is their effect on social relations, since they are experienced as truths, although they cannot be empirically proven (Silva, 2013). Therefore, "the imaginary, (...), is real as a social effect" (2013, p.30), because it obeys "rules, representations, deep discursive and social formations, of deep cultural manifestation" (2013, p. 38) that make socially accepted truths emerge (Silva, 2013), hence the social power and the importance of its understanding and analysis. This conception differs from that proposed by Cornelius Castoriadis, who starts from the imaginary as "absolute invention" or from the displacement of meaning of symbols that are invested with meanings different from "normal" or "canonical" ones; however, it develops the concept of radical imaginary, as a matrix that forms the basis of thought, of acting and of perception and that gives meaning to the social.

13According to Hiernaux, the imaginary

“… can then be defined in a preliminary way as the set of beliefs, images and assessments that are defined around an activity, a space, a period or a person (or society) at a given time. The representation that the imaginary elaborates of a process, is constructed from real or poetic images (immersed in the field of fantasy). Variable and relaxed, the imaginary is a social construction - at the same time individual and collective – that is permanently remodeling, a kind of mental building that never ends or will cease to expand or remodel ”(2002, p.8); “The imaginary uses its own constructions of the representation, constructions sustained by the imagination, the dream, the individual or collective fantasy” (2002, p.9)

14The tourist imaginary is then defined by Hiernaux as "that portion of the social imaginary relevant to the tourist event, that is, the numerous manifestations of the corporate travel process" (2002, p. 8).

15Thus, the tourist imaginary is created about the tourist place and the active participants in tourism, particularly the tourists and the host communities:

«the images linked to the receiving communities are equally shaped by artifacts or immaterial productions produced by the imaginary. These characterize and categorize the peoples, and therefore prepare, anticipate or prevent tourists from encountering and confronting the Other » (Gravari-Barbas and Graburn 2012, p.1).

16The stories, narratives and images that go to make up social and tourist imaginaries can influence the decisions of tourists. Therefore, the consultation of guides, photographs, blogs of travelers and social networks in which opinions are exchanged concerning the tourist experience, regain such importance and have such power over potential tourists that it may be able to make them give up or change course, in search of destinations more in line with their expectations. The power of these statements depends largely on the credibility of their enunciators. Opinion influencers fulfill the function of motivating readers towards what is fashionable, but also any traveler who leaves their opinion recorded in the networks can influence travel decisions. Such influencers can be famous characters in national life, in the international jet-set, they can be young bloggers or youtoubers, magazines or prestigious publications that infect their readers with the "new" trends.

III. Historical relationship of Colombian society towards the Native Communities of the Amazon rainforest.

17One pillar in the construction of social imaginaries of the indigenous communities of the Amazon rainforest is found in the descriptions made by chroniclers of the Indies which led to colonial policies of submission and exclusion that justified ill-treatment and slavery, and which subsequently had repercussions on Colombian society

Then, the story of travelers strengthens the images refined in difference, an image reaffirmed in principle by science and then used for publicity about the destination.

18The relationship of the white, patriarchal society to indigenous communities has been marked by exclusion and a lack of recognition of indigenous societies as having a social and political organization and ancestral knowledge. This relationship makes a pillar of “the difference” and such a view of the Other has repercussions in public policies, in government initiatives and in the approach of a society that, although mixed, feels more identified with the Spanish white heritage, and in that sense reproduces, in some way, exclusionary practices.

19Since their arrival, the Spaniards persecuted and exterminated a large proportion of the original communities of the territory, claiming that they professed a system of "diabolical" beliefs and religious practices outside Christian morals. Also, and primarily, the Spaniards were driven by the desire to accumulate territory, wealth and power. With them the caste regime was established, based on ethnic discrimination, in which the Spanish were at the top of the pyramid and enjoyed rights and privileges that decreased as individuals moved away from this racial paradigm. At least sixteen racial types were distinguished according to mixtures and mergers, however, by the middle of the 18th century due to the intense miscegenation, such a system lost its validity and applicability. Currently, social exclusionary practices in the country reproduce in some way the colonial mentality and persist with greater vigor towards the same population groups as at that time: Afro-descendants and indigenous people, women and the poor population.

20These positions on the submission of the Indians were permanent, with exceptions such as Bartolomé de las Casas (1474 or 1484-1556) who became one of the greatest defenders of the rights of the natives, while mostly the encomenderos, chroniclers and Spaniards who lived in America or even those who had not stepped on American soil considered the indigenous people as belonging to a lower culture that deserved to be subjugated.

During the colonial period the caste regime then constituted a form of social regulation through which the hegemony of the white social group is privileged, heirs of the Spaniards who held privileges and rights that were denied to the other social groups.

“The caste regime is undoubtedly the most explicit political manifestation of the denial representation of otherness. In the seventeenth, caste legislation determined the social and political regulation of sexual exchanges between different ethnic groups. The central objective of this regulation was to ensure the cultural, social, political and economic hegemony of a minority fraction of the population that recognized itself as European and whose elite pretended to be the heirs of the conquering benefactors (Gómez Muller 1997, p.17).

21Such thinking was dominant even during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a time when Colombian humanists and thinkers resumed the perspective that gave continuity to an exclusionary interpretation of society.

22José María Samper (1828-1888), was one of those intellectuals; described as a humanist, journalist, writer, politician, in his "Essay on political revolutions" (1861) collects concepts that are focused on the races to which he describes as pure-impure, and therefore to societies with a prevalence of barbarian characteristics line up against others, who would be civilized. Associates elements such as "racial" purity, wealth, the opulent, beauty, the refined, the nobility, the enlightened, the esteemed, the splendid, the worthy of Europe, the "upper classes of the society” (Gómez Muller 1997, p.15).

23On the contrary, the state of barbarism is associated with the "racially" impure, ugliness, the poor, the unhealthy, the terrible, imbecility, and the despicable. In Colombia the barbarian human type is the indigenous, the black and the zambo [Afro-American Indian mixtures]; the civilized type, "racially" more pure, is concentrated in the highlands of the interior, that is, in the regions of temperate and cool climate where the "white of Spanish origin" lives mainly and where the most refined populations produce literary works ...” (Gómez Muller 1997, p.15).

24Luis López de Mesa (1884-1967), Colombian, psychiatrist and psychologist at Harvard University (1918), estimated that: “The mixture of the indigenous people of the Eastern Cordillera with that African element and even with the mulattos derived from it, it would be a fatal mistake for the spirit and wealth of the country: the vices and defects of the two races would be compounded, instead of eliminated, and we would have a cunning and indolent bastard, ambitious and sensual, hypocritical and vain at the same time, ignorant and sickly. This mixture of impoverished blood and lower cultures determines maladaptive, disturbed, nervous, mentally weak products, vitiated by madness, epilepsy, crime, that fill asylums and prisons when they get in touch with civilization ” (López de Mesa 1927, p. 12).

25Also from the political and normative point of view, in the Constitution of 1886, which governed us until 1991, the conservative, centralist, catholic, patriarchal, white and exclusive position prevails. Article 40 says that “the exercise of all cults that are not contrary to Christian morals or laws is permitted” and article 41 states that “Public education will be organized and conducted in accordance with the Catholic religion,” making a clear allusion in both cases to the recognition of a single creed. Such a position changes only a century later with the Political Constitution of 1991, in which the recognition of a multi-ethnic and multicultural country becomes explicit, thus making a social assessment of the different social groups that make up the nation.

26For five centuries, stories, narratives and images prevailed that legitimized the perspective of inferiority of the indigenous and Afro-descendant communities perceived devoid of culture, language, knowledge and religion that were necessary to assimilate into an idea of homogenizing nation-state. They are described as idolatrous peoples with dialects and characterized by having superstitions; that is, they are described as barbarians, as homogeneous societies, possessing time-frozen traditions and essentialized identities.

27However, these cultural differences begin to acquire value, promoted both by the intellectual elites and by the 1991 Constitution, through which the country is explicitly recognized as "multi-ethnic and multicultural", which materializes in identity movements and of resistance as well as in cultural spaces such as museums that claim the “authentic” identity of the original peoples (Sarrazin 2009). Also the growing recognition of indigenous "spirituality", more linked to the New Age movement, constitutes another form of valorization of these indigenous cultural practices and the knowledge associated with them (Sarrazín 2008), which includes shamanic practices in cities such as Bogotá, responding to a growing demand of individuals in search of new paths linked to personal growth. In this sense, the idealization of diversity and otherness has come about (Sarrazín 2006).

IV. Construction of the Amazon rainforest as a mythical space of reverie and terror.

28Amazonian indigenous communities have a close historical, aesthetic and symbolic relationship with the jungle, while the rest of society has approached it from the construction of imaginary that oscillate between seduction and terror.

The construction of the myth and the legend about the jungle starts from Gaspar de Carvajal, chronicler of the Indies, in the 16th century, who accompanies Francisco de Orellana in the search for gold and spices, particularly cinnamon, along the Amazon River. Carvajal describes the encounter with a tribe of women warriors as the encounter with the Amazons, thus embodying the Greek myth in this territory; from that moment the imaginary began to be forged on this territory and its inhabitants.

29Herzog in the film Aguirre, the Wrath of God, filmed in 1972, recreates, in part, the chronicles of Gaspar de Carvajal in a film that dramatically narrates the relationship of Europeans with this territory and with indigenous people, a relationship marked by the fear of the unknown, with a masterful staging of Klaus Kinski who embodies the brutality of Aguirre, his immersion in the jungle and his relationship with the natives, which is mediated by fear, and submission of such populations.

30Páramo in his book Lope de Aguirre or the Maelstrom of the West: jungle, myth and rationality (2009), quotes Miguel Ángel Perera (1994) who estimates that,

"Aguirre and his people, with their behavior, recreated the myth of the "Law of the Jungle": attacks, murders, assaults, rapids, betrayals and usurpations. The European is exhibited naked in front of his own passions and hidden desires, in those lands of no one, without history, principles or written ordinances. The apparent total emptiness of the jungle spaces allowed the European to conceive principles and carry out plans of any kind” (Páramo, p. 74).

31Páramo estimates that Aguirre is, together with Arturo Coba, the protagonist of one of the most emblematic novels of the Colombian twentieth century, La Vorágine (1924), the archetype of liminal beings:

“halfway between life and death, between the historical time and mythical timelessness, between nature and culture ... (...) and its history (...) reveals someone who truly succumbs to the jungle; to a legitimate ancestor, not so much of the Arana House, per se, as of the myths of white men who found in the jungle the inversion of the culture and yielded to barbarism; who believed themselves to be unleashed gods of all human morals ”(Páramo 2009, p. 74).

32In La Vorágine, José Eustasio Rivera, refers to the indigenous communities settled in the jungle, as “those rudimentary and nomadic tribes: they have no gods, no heroes, no homeland, no present, no future” (Páramo 2009, p. 19), configuring them as tribes far from the values of Western civilization, giving continuity to a thought that had been forged since the 16th century.

33Other stories of the twentieth century, such as the novels Lost in the Amazon (1978) by Germán Castro Caicedo; the River of desolation: a journey through the Amazon (2006) by Javier Rerverté, a historical novel, describes the Amazon rainforest as an inhospitable place, conducive to the development of illicit activities: in the first half of the twentieth century, the rubber exploitation; In the second half, animal skin trafficking and recently the production and marketing of cocaine took place. It has also been a refuge for groups outside the law and rebel groups.

V. The indigenous communities of the Amazon and their approach to tourism

34The images of the Amazonian indigenous populations embodied in engravings, paintings and later in photographs accompany the stories and narratives of explorers and travelers (Paul Marcoy, Coudreau et Crevaux and the Italian Boggiani; the English captain Thomas Whiffen, and the German ethnologist Theodor Koch-Grünberg, among others), who advance scientific explorations particularly since the 19th century, and represent the indigenous as belonging to a “pure”, untouched society, with a pristine, rich and “authentic” culture, whose cultural practices accentuate the sense of the difference".

35These images are reproduced both in the written media and in social networks as a mechanism of seduction for travelers and tourists, who, fascinated by the search for exotic, pre-modern societies, are launched to meet the indigenous communities of the Amazon in the search for "Good savage", of his knowledge and "spirituality", which remains in the imaginary of travelers and tourists who visit the Amazon and in the images of promotion of the destination.

36However, the relationship of these communities with the foreigners was more intense with the arrival of the different bonanzas: the exploitation of rubber by the Casa Arana, a Peruvian company that implemented practices of extreme violence towards the natives, who sought the subjugation of these groups, through fear, murder, persecution, the disintegration of families and clans. Subsequently, other bonanzas were presented: the skins and the coca, with an important profit for the traffickers and only a small gain for the natives who exposed their physical integrity to risk in each endeavour.

37In relation to tourism, considered by some authors as a new bonanza in the region, (Ochoa 2008) the situation has not been no more fortunate: the Yagua indigenous communities originally from Peru were used since the 60s of the twentieth century as “attractive tourist". In Peru, as described by Baca in 1981, quoted by Chaumeuil, “in the last two decades, some native groups face a new form of penetration by the dominant groups: tourism, with the desire to seek new forms of enrichment and show off the exotic, tourism companies are responsible for moving to their shelters, native groups with the purpose of showing, or exhibiting their way of existence, deformed and accommodated to obtain greater clientele, resulting in the loss of identity and native self-esteem, which leads to an accelerated deculturation process ”(Chaumeil, p.24); The author estimates that tourism among the Yagua has been imposed since the 1960s, due to the exoticism of their dresses in palm and their hunting practices with blowguns, curare and the ease of access to their communities (p.29 ). Given the abuses of tourism companies, the Yagua requested respect for their cultural practices, the dates of their festivals and rituals as well as autonomy for the formation of their own tourism companies, with benefits in economic, social and cultural (Chaumeil 1984, p.74). To Colombia they are transferred by Mike Salinsky (or Mike Tsalikis, according to some reviews) from their place of origin. He made tours so that tourists, mostly Americans like him, had the experience of observing supposed native dances with semi-naked natives. Such a tourism project, one of the first in the Colombian Amazon, brought about the displacement and deterritorialization of such groups as well as its accelerated acculturation by separating them from all their cultural, symbolic and cosmogonic references, generating deep social and cultural ruptures (Vélez 2017). At the moment, the tourist presentation of the indigenous communities, oscillates between the visit to the malocas [traditional longhouses], with presentation of “traditional” dances, the visit to caciques who make a story about their conception of the world and the sale of handicrafts, adapted for tourists according to the demand.

A. Referents of travelers on the Amazon territory and the indigenous communities settled there.

38In the first survey on the preliminary knowledge of travelers to this territory and their indigenous inhabitants, the traces of stories, narratives and known images have been come, in some cases, from childhood, from the first years of education to the reference to novels, recent movies and documentaries.

The reference to La Vorágine (1924) is more or less recurring, a novel that is frequently read by college students, in which a crude description of the jungle is made out to be a “green hell,” a place that was the setting of the cruelty to which the natives were subjected during the time of rubber extraction. The novel has also been broadcast by appearances in Arcadia magazine and recently, a television series has been made, demonstrating the validity of the subject.

39There are also references by students to magazines such as National Geographic, the book Tales of the Jungle by Horacio Quiroga and the movie The Book of the Jungle, the documentary Wild Magic (2015) and the movie The Hug of the Snake, directed by the Colombian Ciro Guerra, where the encounter between Europeans and indigenous people is narrated. Other of the mentioned references make reference to other works of Colombian literature. William Ospina is referred to by his trilogy: The Country of Cinnamon, The Serpent without Eyes and Ursúa, whose scenario is the jungle from the Spanish colonization and that creates an imaginary in travelers. It was also mentioned as a reference of the Amazon region to Kapax, somehow remembered as Amazonian superhero who crossed the Amazon River and several others, to make visible the regional and environmental problems of these regions forgotten by the State (Gallo 2016).
We believe that each of the novels, films and characters mentioned have helped in the construction of the social imaginary of travelers on this territory, which also translates into the means used by tourists to recognize the destination and its residents.

B. The Amazon from the guides and the tourist publicity among indigenous communities.

40Guide books are a fundamental tool for the traveler, they also contribute to the recreation of social and tourist imaginaries and serve as instruments of decision, so they fulfill a performative function, that is, they create realities for tourists, because they determine their itineraries traveling, the attractions to visit, the places to avoid and even the expected behaviors of each other, in addition to the spaces of fear and danger in addition to those that can be enjoyed peacefully. The guides seek to elucidate with whom, how and where to share, in short, they seek to convey the ABC of the trip.

With respect to Colombia, until recently the guides advised against their visit and put red or orange alerts as a dangerous place. At present, when Colombia becomes more visible to the world, due to the recent peace treaty, the tourist offer plays a fundamental role in the construction of the imaginary.

41In Lonely Planet it states that "Colombia reappeared in the tourism radars and Lonely Planet should devote a guide to this unknown destination!” Later, it says:

«For the sake of a safe trip, this guide deals only with places that can be visited without any risk and one chapter presents the precautions to be taken in Colombia, which has become a safe country, to discover, urgently » (Lonely Planet, Colombia, 2016, counter-prone), which continues to reproduce the social imaginary of fear spaces in Colombia.

42As for the Amazon, in this same guide, in 2016, the immensity of the forest and the diversity of its ecosystem are highlighted:

“The Amazon is immeasurable (the Colombian part alone is vaster than Germany). There are numerous possibilities to spend an unforgettable night in the heart of the jungle. The air-conditioned accommodations in the Amacayacu National Natural Park and along the Yavarí River (Brazil) are the best places to observe various animals and ecosystems. You can swim among dolphins, fish piranhas and observe alligators, monkeys and frogs up close.” (Lonely Planet 2016).

43However, the absence of reference to indigenous communities and restless settlers, elevates tourist visits solely to a jungle rich in flora and fauna, but devoid of human life. The description of the fauna, centered only on certain animals, seems to invite the tourist to know the native Amazonian species, such as piranhas, perhaps recognized for their ferocity.

44The guide Petit Futé, invites you to discover "Locombia".

It refers to its inhabitants described "as festive and warm people", "a people who are the fruit of miscegenation between Native Americans, Europeans and Africans, who are willing to share with tourists the smile, energy and happiness of living of the Colombians (Petit Futé 2016, back cover). The text also refers to violence in Colombia by pointing out: “Beyond the negative image that has been stuck on the skin, drugs, violence and armed conflict, the country offers unknown treasures that the traveler in search of authenticity and meetings, you will appreciate » (Petit Futé 2016, back cover).

45In the 2018-19 version of the guide, an element further qualifying the country has been added, talking about the country of El Dorado that offers unknown treasures to the traveler.

46Some of its attractions are described:

"music, adventure sports, ethnic and cultural diversity, spirituality, traditions and modernity, all for an unforgettable trip".

47Close the presentation with the slogan of a state campaign created by Procolombia, in 2007, to promote the country and which also refers to the risks that the traveler runs on his trip:

“Finally, the only real risk in Colombia, is that you want to stay.” (Petit Futé 2016, back cover).

48In the description of the country, the guide compares it to its flag:

“The most controversial country, the most unknown in South America. Colombia is made in the image of its flag: gilded as its glowing pre-Columbian goldsmiths; navy blue like an anchor between two seas, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic; red as its sunsets and the blood shed by its natives, blacks, supporters of democracy, guerrillas and drug traffickers.” (Petit Futé 2016, back cover).

49It is striking that a number of imaginaries are recreated here: El Dorado, as the place of enchantment and excess, the place of hidden treasures, risk and adventure, all of them in one place. The new allusion to the country of El Dorado, activates the memory the social imaginary built from the Chroniclers of the Indies, since the Spaniards searched for El Dorado, the magic of the encounter with a rich and mysterious country, with a past of exuberant beauty and enormous riches that made characters like Orellana and his men cross the jungle and its dangers, contacting "wild" and hostile peoples, because of the reward, the value of its treasures.

They recreate an imaginary about risk, which is worth running to discover a hidden place, full of treasures, but that will lead to an authentic experience.

50The joy of the Latino, another of the social imaginary, is also mentioned, not counting the plight of the country, particularly the political situation, drug trafficking and violence, despite the recent signing of the peace agreement between the guerrilla forces Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian State.

52Tourist publicity is accompanied by images that allude to the indigenous in “traditional”, “authentic” costume with a tiger’s teeth necklace (actually American jaguar) and with a crown of feathers. The dances are done by groups dressed in costumes made with Yanchama, a jungle bush traditionally utilized by the communities. However, the costumes in Yanchama are only part of a staging just like the crowns and necklaces that are actually used only by some dignitaries and in very particular rituals. Recreating rites of passage, such as a performance of indigenous marriage ceremonies as a social event for citizens eager for authenticity and exoticism, can become a double game of representation and power.

There operators, travel agencies, or promoters of the destination, require indigenous spaces, their malocas, and someone who knows some of the traditional knowledge or at least willing to simulate them, to stage the rite of passage or the evil cries and supposed cannibalism. Until a couple of years ago in a civil society reserve that promotes clean environmental practices, as part of the re-creation of the “culture” a pot with bones was displayed, alluding to that ritual, feeding the social imaginary of the savage Amazonian.

53Other tourist offers between indigenous communities revolve around “traditional” dances mainly in a place very close to Leticia, called Macedonia, the sale of “handicrafts” at that same point and on the Island of Micos, and the visit to grandparents and grandmothers in their malocas and the knowledge-elders who carry on conversations with groups of visitors. Also the opportunity of healing with Yagé, is done more carefully because of the consequences that this experience could have if it were not carried out in the right conditions.

54Tourist publicity renders invisible the contemporary dynamics of the indigenous communities facing an accelerated process of globalization, where they are incorporated in different ways, still leaving their places of origin and moving to the municipal capitals, to the capitals, integrating themselves in a market logic far from their own productive dynamics. Rather, this presentation seeks to nurture the social imaginary about indigenous communities as social groups arrested in time, with rituals and cultural practices that are exoticized, commercialized and put at the service of consumption.

55However, indigenous communities also incorporate in their routine the role of being “Indians” for tourists, in quite asymmetrical relationships, inserting themselves into a labor market in which the operators get all the benefits, recreating an image of themselves and of their culture according to the tourist demands: making representations of their “dances”, or healing rituals, selling their medicinal products to tourists who seek first of all to respond in the encounter with “authentic” communities underlain by a relationship of otherness marked by tensions and power.

Conclusions

56The construction of social and tourist imaginaries about the indigenous communities of the Colombian Amazon is nourished by the chronicles of the Indies, stories of travelers and explorers, literature such as novels and finally by film and television. One of the most important milestones is La Vorágine, a novel that recreates an imaginary that still survives today in the memory of Colombians of all ages, a book that is often consulted and read in school.

57From the perspective of the stories associated with tourism, guide books build an imaginary that oscillates between the ignorance of the existence of Amazonian communities and the exoticization of them as societies where authentic experiences can be lived. But the social imaginary of the Amazonian indigenous communities is most definitively created and shown more forcefully is in the widespread tourist publicity, where some ancestral and other newly created or resignified cultural practices are recreated to nourish the tourist experience. The narratives and stories that accompany both the guide books and the tourist publicity create realities about the territories and the inhabitants of the tourist destinations, and determine tourists’ travel decisions except for those who go in search of their own experience even contravening the indications or warnings in the guide books.

58These tourist narratives are part of the images and historical stories about the native inhabitants of the Amazon, and recreate the relationships of otherness and its evolution over time, from the arrival of Orellana to the present day. Probably, these changes are not significant enough to transform the relations of society and its original communities.