The Taushiro, who are also known as Pinches or Pinchis, are an Amerindian group from Northern Peru near the AucayacuRiver in the state of Loreto. Catholic missionaries established the first contact with the Taushiro in 1684, at the time the Taushiro population was of about 2500 people. Epidemics , slavery and abuse reduced this number drastically. By 1737 the Taushiro population dropped to 136 people. In 1846 that figure lowered to 100 and by 1960 it dropped to 70 speakers of the Taushiro language. By 1975 their numbers were reduced to 18 people and by the 1990’s the Taushiro population reduced to less than ten. Most Taushiro survivors married non-taushiro speakers and adopted forms of Spanish and Quechua, which reduced the number of Taushiro speakers. Today, there is only one known speaker of the Taushiro language, Amadeo Garcia.
The Taushiro were hunters who celebrated a successful hunts with music. They would hunt in the daytime and celebrate in the night time. Only the men played and fabricated a flute called "quena" that was played while the women sang and danced. The flute was played inside of the house of the person who had led the hunting while everyone ate the smoked meat. The Taushiro word for "Quena" is ju'jue.
When first contacted, Taushiros lived in small huts with no walls and slept on hammocks by the fire so they could be protected from mosquitos bats and other animals. The women made ceramics with clay and ashes. The Taushiro also wove their clothing and hammocks.
Some Tools of the Taushiro:
Sticks for planting manioc and used stones as hammers.