Warao people

Last updated
Warao
A Warao family in their canoe.jpg
A Warao family in their canoe.
Total population
c. 54,771
Regions with significant populations
Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 49,271 (2011) [1]
Flag of Guyana.svg  Guyana c. 5,000 [2]
Flag of Suriname.svg  Suriname c. 500 [3]
Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago unknown
Languages
Warao, Spanish, English, Guyanese Creole, Dutch, Sranan Tongo
Religion
Traditional beliefs, Christianity

The Warao are an Indigenous Amerindian people inhabiting northeastern Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname. Alternate common spellings of Warao are Waroa, Guarauno, Guarao, and Warrau. The term Warao translates as "the boat people", after the Warao's lifelong and intimate connection to the water. [4] Most Warao inhabit Venezuela's Orinoco Delta region, with smaller numbers in neighbouring Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname. With a population of 49,271 people in Venezuela during the 2011 census, they were the second largest indigenous group after the Wayuu people. [1] They speak an agglutinative language, Warao.

Contents

Lifestyle

Transportation

Warao use canoes as their main form of transportation. Other modes, such as walking, are hampered by the hundreds of streams, rivulets, marshes, and high waters by the Orinoco River. Warao babies, toddlers, and small children are famed for their ability to hold tight to their mothers' necks, as well as to paddle. They often learn to swim before they learn to walk.

The Warao use two types of canoes. Bongos, which carry up to 5 people, are built in an arduous process that starts with the search for large trees. When an old bongo is no longer usable, a consensus is reached by the leaders of each household on which tree is best. At the start of the dry season, they find the tree and kill it. At the end of the dry season, they return to cut it down. It is then hollowed out and flattened with fire and stone tools traded from the mountains (or local shell tools). Traditionally, the work of making the larger canoes by the young men is done with instructions from the elder female of the household, handed down by her daughters to their husbands. [5]

The other type of canoe is small, seating only three people, and is used for daily travel to and from food sources.

Diet

The Warao diet is varied with an emphasis on the products of the delta, mostly fish. By 1500 they had acquired basic horticulture; many of their daily fruits and vegetables come from the domesticated and cultivated Palm orchards of the delta. [6] In July and August, Warao feast on crabs when they come to the delta from the beach. Hunting is generally avoided due to cultural taboos. They occasionally also eat grubs found in the moriche palm tree. Pith of the palm was also eaten, but contemporary consumption is more likely to have it added as an additional ingredient for cassava bread. [4]

Religion

The Warao are, according to their own reports, descended from an adventurous heavenly figure — the primordial hunter. This man originally dwelt in a sky world which had men, but was completely devoid of all animals except birds. Hunting these heavenly birds, the founding man used his bow and arrow to strike a bird in mid-air. The bird fell from the sky and eventually hit the heavenly floor. The birds burst through the floor and proceeded through the clouds and towards terrestrial land (Earth) below. The hunter went to the hole in the floor made by the bird and looked through. He saw lush and fertile land (Earth) and resolved to descend to it to partake of its pleasures: beauty, abundant game, fruit, et cetera. The hunter took a long rope of heavenly cotton, tied it to a tree, and threw it through the hole and lowered himself through the clouds to what is now Earth, forsaking his sky world.

The Warao have shamans, who perform music such as rain dances and songs. [7]

History

A group of Warao people in 1882. The earth and its inhabitants (1882) (14775021454).jpg
A group of Warao people in 1882.

The Warao have been considered to be the first inhabitants of Guyana, predating the arrival of Arawak and Caribs. [4]

The Warao of eastern Venezuela's Orinoco first had contact with Europeans when, soon after Christopher Columbus reached the Orinoco river delta, Alonso de Ojeda decided to navigate the river upstream. There, in the delta, Ojeda saw the distinctively stilted Warao huts, balanced over the water. Similar architecture in Sinamaica far to the west had been likened to Venice, with its famous canals below and buildings above; this new encounter propagated the name of Venezuela ("little Venice") for the whole land. [8]

Contemporary issues

The inaccessibility of the Warao's lands makes access to health care difficult. Tuberculosis is common. [9] The Orinoco delta has minimal infrastructure, no sanitation, and limited education resulting in a high degree of illiteracy. [10]

HIV was first detected in 2007 in the Warao communities of the lower Orinoco Delta region of Venezuela. In some communities already 35% test positive for the HIV virus. With Venezuela's failing health care system, there is an absence of prevention programs; this, together, with severe language barriers — many Warao are illiterate and do not speak fluent Spanish — have allowed ignorance about the disease to flourish. The culture is felt to be severely threatened. [11]

In the summer of 2008, indigenous leaders and researchers from the University of California, Berkeley issued a report detailing the deaths of 38 Warao in the Delta Amacuro state from a mysterious illness. The disease, which causes "partial paralysis, convulsions and an extreme fear of water" [12] is believed to be a form of rabies transmitted by bats. Upon reaching Caracas to inform the government of the outbreak and request assistance, the leaders and researchers were "met with disrespect on every level, as if the deaths of indigenous people are not even worth anything." [12]

The Crisis in Venezuela in the early 21st century has resulted into a migration of Warao into neighbouring countries. [13] The refugees in Boa Vista, Brazil are not recognised by the Brazilian government as a tribe. [14] As of 2021, an estimated 2,500 refugees have settled in Guyana in Warao communities near Mabaruma and Port Kaituma. [13] Whitewater near Maburuma has limited infrastructure, [15] however it does have a recognised local government. [16] About 250 have settled in Anabisi near Port Kaituma which is remote, lacks infrastructure, and has no access to clean water. [13] Anabisi is part of the hunting and fishing grounds of Citrus Grove which was originally home to Warao and Kalina people, however manganese was discovered in the 1950s, and is not an Amerindian village, because of a mixed population. [17] : 142–143 

Film treatment

In April 2017, The Museum of Modern Art in New York presented a film by Cuban-Venezuelan director Mario Crespo with a cast of nonprofessional actors. The film, titled Dauna. Lo que lleva el río ( Gone with the River ), presents the difficulty of choosing to stay with the Warao traditions and life or to leave to gain an education among the "Creoles". The film includes a detailed look at Warao culture and life along the river.

Tourism

Tourism has come to the Warao which brings relative wealth for some. Several individuals have set up rough and ready tourist accommodation in their own homes. They offer canoe trips (hand and power) to see the wild life of the delta, also a chance to experience their traditional life and culture. These visits can be arranged in the state capital town of Tucupita through one of many travel agents.

Settlements

The majority of Warao live in the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela. There are approximately 364 villages in the delta. [10] The main town is Curiapo. [18]

About 5,000 live in the border area of Guyana. [2] The main villages are Assakata, [17] : 71  Kamwatta Hill, [17] : 129  Koriabo, [17] : 100  and Whitewater. [19]

The Warao have a minority presence in the Surinamese villages of Cupido and Post Utrecht. [20]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolívar (state)</span> State in Venezuela

Bolívar is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital city is Ciudad Bolívar and the largest city is Ciudad Guayana. Bolívar State covers a total surface area of 242,801 km2 (93,746 sq mi) and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,410,964. The state contains Angel Falls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delta Amacuro</span> State in Venezuela

Delta Amacuro State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, and is the location of the Orinoco Delta. The Paria Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean are found to the north, Bolívar State is found to the south, the Atlantic Ocean and Guyana are found to the east, and Monagas State is found to the west. The state capital city is Tucupita.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pemon</span> Indigenous people living in areas of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana

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Kamwatta Hill is a community in the Barima-Waini Region, in northern Guyana. Kamwatta is an Amerindian village inhabited by Warao and Arawak people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orinoco Delta</span> Delta region of the Orinoco River

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalina people</span> Indigenous people native to the northern coastal areas of South America

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guyana–Venezuela territorial dispute</span> Territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caño Manamo</span> River in Venezuela

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guyana</span> Caribbean country in South America

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warao language</span> Language of the Warao people

Warao is the native language of the Warao people. A language isolate, it is spoken by about 33,000 people primarily in northern Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname. It is notable for its unusual object–subject–verb word order. The 2015 Venezuelan film Gone with the River was spoken in Warao.

The Amacuro River is a river in South America. It forms part of the northern section of the international boundary between Venezuela and Guyana. It is part of the Orinoco River basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous peoples in Venezuela</span>

Indigenous people in Venezuela, Amerindians or Native Venezuelans, form about 2% of the population of Venezuela, although many Venezuelans are mixed with Indigenous ancestry. Indigenous people are concentrated in the Southern Amazon rainforest state of Amazonas, where they make up nearly 50% of the population and in the Andes of the western state of Zulia. The most numerous indigenous people, at about 200,000, is the Venezuelan part of the Wayuu people who primarily live in Zulia between Lake Maracaibo and the Colombian border. Another 100,000 or so indigenous people live in the sparsely populated southeastern states of Amazonas, Bolívar and Delta Amacuro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous peoples in Guyana</span> Earliest inhabitants of Guyana

Indigenous peoples in Guyana, Native Guyanese or Amerindian Guyanese are Guyanese people who are of indigenous ancestry. They comprise approximately 9.16% of Guyana's population. Amerindians are credited with the invention of the canoe, as well as Cassava-based dishes and Guyanese pepperpot, the national dish of Guyana. Amerindian languages have also been incorporated in the lexicon of Guyanese Creole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous peoples in Suriname</span> Ethnic group

Indigenous peoples in Suriname, Native Surinamese, or Amerindian Surinamese, are Surinamese people who are of indigenous ancestry. They comprise approximately 3.5% of Suriname's population of 612,985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orinoco Delta swamp forests</span> Wetland region of Venezuela and Guyana

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Whitewater is a village in the Barima-Waini Region of Guyana. Whitewater is located close to the border with Venezuela and is inhabited by Warao Amerindians.

References

  1. 1 2 "Censo 2011 - Estructura poblacional indígena". 2011 Census Venezuela (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Spotlight on the Warao People of Guyana". Guyanese Bank. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  3. ↑ "Warao in Suriname". Joshua Project. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 Edwards, W.; Gibson, K. (1979). "An Ethnohistory of Amerindians in Guyana". Ethnohistory. 26 (2): 163–164. doi:10.2307/481091. ISSN   0014-1801. JSTOR   481091.
  5. ↑ J. Wilbert, Mystic Endowment: Religious Ethnography of the Warao Indians. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993: 25-86
  6. ↑ A.C. Roosevelt, The Warao of the Orinoco delta: A stilt-village culture. In A Civilizacao Lacustre de a Baixada Maranhense: Da Prehistorica dos Campos Inundaveis aos Dias Atuais, edited by Alexandre Guida Navarro. Sao Luis, Maranhao: Universidade Federal do Maranhao. Pp. 231-296.
  7. ↑ Dale Alan Olsen Music of the Warao of Venezuela: Song People of the Rain Forest 1996- Page 253 "By contrast, his elderly friend Jaime Zapata, who sang several songs with him during our recording sessions, studied hoarotu shamanism for only three days."
  8. ↑ "COUNTRY PROFILE: VENEZUELA" (PDF). Library of Congress. March 2005. p. 2. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  9. ↑ Mendoza, Servelion Victor (2002). "The Orinoco Delta Warao Indians". warao.org. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  10. 1 2 Villalba, Julian A.; Liu, Yushi; Alvarez, Mauyuri K. (2013). "Low Child Survival Index in a Multi-Dimensionally Poor Amerindian Population in Venezuela". PLOS ONE. 8 (12): e85638. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0085638 . PMC   3877389 . PMID   24392022.
  11. ↑ Semple, Kirk (2018-05-07). "AIDS Runs Rampant in Venezuela, Putting an Ancient Culture at Risk". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-05-07.
  12. 1 2 Romero, Simon (2008-08-06). "Mystery Disease Kills Dozens in Venezuela". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  13. 1 2 3 "UNHCR concerned about difficult conditions of indigenous Venezuelans in Guyana". UNHCR . 26 November 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  14. ↑ "Warao Indians the most vulnerable Venezuelans fleeing to Brazil". Agencia EFE. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  15. ↑ Joanna Dhanraj (16 October 2016). "Whitewater 2". Stabroek News. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  16. ↑ "Kamwatta and Whitewater to get electricity before the end of 2021 – PM". Department of Public Information. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Atkinson, Sharon (2016). Our land, our people (PDF). Amerindian Peoples Association and Forest Peoples Programme. ISBN   978-0-9935190-7-9.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  18. ↑ "COMUNIDADES INDÍGENAS EMPADRONADAS POR POBLACION RESIDENTE, SEGÚN MUNICIPIO Y PARROQUIA" (PDF). Población indígena en los municipios del Delta Amacuro (in Spanish). 2001. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  19. ↑ Joanna Dhanraj (9 October 2016). "Whitewater". Stabroek News. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  20. ↑ "Verificatie en Prioriteiten Stelling voor de Indigenous Navigator". Vereniging van Inheemse Dorpshoofden in Suriname (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 February 2022.
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