The Wapishana or Wapichan (or Wapisiana, Wapitxana, Vapidiana, Wapixana) are an
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
group found in the
Roraima
Roraima (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas ...
area of northern
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and southern
Guyana
Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
.
Location
Currently the Wapishana are located in the State of
Roraima
Roraima (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas ...
, Brazil, northern and eastern
Boa Vista, as well as in the southern Rupununi savannas of Guyana. In their villages, one can find ranches, settlements, small towns, and commercial developments of Brazilians.
In Guyana, the Wapishana villages are located between the
Takutu,
Rupununi
The Rupununi is a region in the south-west of Guyana, bordering the Brazilian Amazon. The Rupununi river, also known by the local indigenous peoples as ''Raponani'', flows through the Rupununi region. The name Rupununi originates from the word '' ...
, and
Kwitaro rivers, bordering the
Macushi
The Macushi ( pt, Macuxi) are an indigenous people living in the borderlands of southern Guyana, northern Brazil in the state of Roraima, and in an eastern part of Venezuela.
Identification
The Macushi are also known as the Macusi, Macussi, ...
territory in the
Kanuku Mountains
The Kanuku Mountains are a group of mountains in Guyana, located in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region. The name means 'forest' in the Wapishana language, a reference to the rich diversity of wildlife found there. The Eastern Kanuku Mountain ...
to the north, and extending as far as the Wai-Wai territory to the south. In Brazilian territory, in the north eastern portion of Roraima, the Wapishana villages are mostly located in the Serra da Lua (Moon Ridge) region between the Branco River and one of its affluent, the Tacutu.
On the lower
Uraricoera River, another affluent of the
Branco, most of the villages contain a mixed population of Wapishana and Macushi.
Historical boundaries extend as far up as the Rio Branco basin, but the Wapishana were driven south by the Macushi under pressure by European colonizers.
Demographics
Wapishana population totals around 9,441 in Brazil (2014 estimate), 6,000 in Guyana (1990 estimate), and 37 in Venezuela (2011 estimate).
Previous population estimates were between 10,000 and 11,000 people in 1997,
approximately 5,000 Wapishana in Southern
Rupununi
The Rupununi is a region in the south-west of Guyana, bordering the Brazilian Amazon. The Rupununi river, also known by the local indigenous peoples as ''Raponani'', flows through the Rupununi region. The name Rupununi originates from the word '' ...
, southern area of Guyana bordering Brazil in 1991,
[Foster, Nancy Fried. Wapisiana." Encyclopedia of World Cultures.Vol. 7: South America. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1996. 354-356. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Apr. 2010."Instructions for Contributors." Human Biology 75.6 (n.d.): 227-240. Project MUSE. EBSCO. Web. 23 Apr. 2010] and only 2,995 Wapishana in twenty Brazilian villages estimated by the
Fundação Nacional do Índio
Fundação Nacional do Índio (, ''National Indian Foundation'') or FUNAI is a Brazilian governmental protection agency for Amerindian interests and their culture.
Original founding as Indian Protection Service
In 1910, the Indian Protecti ...
in 1984.
Language
Wapishana
The Wapishana or Wapichan (or Wapisiana, Wapitxana, Vapidiana, Wapixana) are an indigenous group found in the Roraima area of northern Brazil and southern Guyana.
Location
Currently the Wapishana are located in the State of Roraima, Brazil, n ...
is classified as a member of the
Arawak
The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater ...
language family. Wapishana is the only remaining Arawakan language in the circum-Roraima area.
The term Arawak is more generally used to refer to the Arawakan or
Lokono
The Lokono or Arawak are an Arawak people native to northern coastal areas of South America. Today, approximately 10,000 Lokono live primarily along the coasts and rivers of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Barbados and French Guiana. They speak t ...
languages spoken in
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
,
Guyana
Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
,
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
,
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...
and in some of the
Antilles
The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...
Islands. Most Brazilian Wapishana often speak
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, instead of Wapishana and many Guyanese Wapishana speak
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
in addition to Wapishana.
Portuguese is the dominant language among the Wapishana who live in urban areas that are
bilingual
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
in Portuguese and Wapishana, especially among the younger generations. According to Migliazza, more than 80% of Wapishana can speak the national language with which they are in contact, Portuguese in Brazil or English in Guyana. Since someone can cross the border between the two countries so easily, it is common to find people who speak Portuguese and English, as well as the
maternal
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestat ...
language.
History
The Wapishana's first indirect contact with
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
ans was in 1498,
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
's third voyage, which reached the coast of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
.
Information and objects were quickly exchanged through developed indigenous networks of trade.
The Portuguese initially attacked the indigenous population, who then occupied the Branco River, in Brazil, on slave-raiding expeditions. Village
settlements were later settled there at the end of the century. The Wapishana were brought to work at the Portuguese fort on the Rio Branco by the late 1700s.
Settlements
![Jacamim](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Jacamim.JPG)
Early Wapishana settlements were temporary clusters of homes, but this has changed since the twentieth century, with permanent villages usually surrounding a church. The government has provided schools, meeting houses, and even shops to village centers. Villagers meet, usually at the
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
or in school to discuss local issues and make plans. After these meetings, men frequently play soccer in open areas nearby In some places, the Wapishana have customarily preferred to live in the open country, at some distance to their agricultural areas. Structures may be built by these farms for food processing, and while a small number of families live on their farms, it is not looked upon well by others in the community.
The Brazilian
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
organized Wapishana villages, but has not yet separated Wapishana lands; every village is enclosed. Although The Wapishana people are limited to smaller spaces, they do not believe in the private ownership of land, they demonstrate flexibility in the assignment of house and garden space. Before settling in an area, newcomers must make sure they have permission from villagers.
In Brazil, Wapishana villages contain an average population of 150 inhabitants, while on the other hand the number of inhabitants is higher for villages in Guyana, which average around 500 inhabitants.
Economy
The Wapishana material culture is similar to other nearly peoples such as the
Pemon
The Pemon or Pemón (Pemong) are indigenous people living in areas of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana.See pp.112,113 and 178 of ''Venezuela: the Pemon'', in ''Condé Nast Traveler'', December 2008. They are also known as Arecuna, Aricuna Jaricuna, ...
,
Kapon, and
Wai-wai.
Cassava
''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...
is an important crop for the Wapishana society. "Wapisiana women grate the cassava, express its juice, sieve it, and then toast it on iron griddles into flour", basically thick flat breads. They also farm sweet potatoes and other roots, squashes, tomatoes, greens, onions, dozens of different kinds of hot peppers, and numerous other crops. Wapishana men are in charge of hunting deer,
agouti
The agouti (, ) or common agouti is any of several rodent species of the genus ''Dasyprocta''. They are native to Middle America, northern and central South America, and the southern Lesser Antilles. Some species have also been introduced else ...
, wild turkeys, and birds. Everyone in the family goes fishing. Wapishana raise cattle, swine, chickens, ducks, and many other animals that have been introduced in the past 200 years, and have since become a part of the regular diet. The exchange of produce, animals, and homemade food provides smalls amounts of cash for purchases of store-bought food and household goods.
Wapishana men craft wooden stools and baskets, sieves, and squeezers for use in the preparation of cassava and other foods. They also make
arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
s, fencing wire into points, but these arrows and bows they buy or get hold of from other Indians have been almost entirely replaced by shotguns. Women make clay cooking pots and spin cotton and weave the thread into baby slings and hammocks. Introduced crafts include needlework, dressmaking, and
rustic furniture
Rustic furniture is furniture employing sticks, twigs or logs for a natural look. The term “rustic” is derived from Latin “rusticus” (peasant; as opposed to urban). The style is rooted in Romantic tradition. In the US it is almost synonym ...
making.
Peddlers sometimes try to trade with the Wapishana, but these transactions are described as exploitative, and they are avoided by all but those who are too isolated to understand.
Culture
Religion
Traditionally, certain Wapishana men became specialists in healing; they beat leaves and "blew" cures. They could also use the same techniques to make people sick or to kill them. Now, no Wapishana admits to these
rituals
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, ...
and only a small number actually follow them, but a number of men and women do perform a sort of curing that is influenced by
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, northeastern Brazilian folk medicine, and other non-Indian practices. In most villages, a Wapishana man is the
catechist
Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...
who leads the Sunday service in the absence of a priest.
Marriage and family
Polygyny
Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women.
Incidence
Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any o ...
once practiced by leaders has nearly disappeared, possibly from the pressure
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
put on them. Most marriages are now consecrated by a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
priest.
Divorce is not uncommon and is initiated by either spouse. A village leader may get involved and try to convince a couple to stay together. The
nuclear family
A nuclear family, elementary family, cereal-packet family or conjugal family is a family group consisting of parents and their children (one or more), typically living in one home residence. It is in contrast to a single-parent family, the larger ...
along with a grandparent is the common arrangement in a household. Often a man who is leader will surround his large house with smaller homes for his sons' and daughters' families. As an essential part of their way of life, young children act as a companion to adults. They stay with their mothers and help with house and garden work.
By tradition, men have control over the labor of their wives and daughters, unmarried sons, and younger sons-in-law in their households. Married daughters usually build their house close to their maternal house. They raise their children alongside their own mother, sharing food and labor.
Death
Deaths were recognized to evil spirits or to kanaima, who were healers that had evil intentions and solely used their powers for that reason.
Kanaima are considered evil, acting out of envy to kill those who are wiser, beloved and more fortunate. Contemporary Wapishana describe illnesses ''
hepatitis
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...
'', ''
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
'', and ''
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
'' to identify causes of death, but they often still believe that the true cause is kanaima or another
malevolent spirit
In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crema ...
. Kinship and social cooperation of a tribe's members indicates that the concept of Kainaima is associated with outsiders, or enemies of the social group.
A person's prized possessions are buried with them in the Wapishana culture for use in the
afterlife
The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...
.
Wapishana relations with other groups
The Wapishana have been known for their distrust of outsiders. This is reflected in their relationships with other tribes. "Their relationship with their closest neighbors, the Macushi, has traditionally been one of suspicion and mistrust".
[Henfrey, Thomas. ["Investigation of the Potential for the Utilisation of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Development of Community-Based Resource Management and Conservation Strategies in Guyanese Amerindian Communities, With Particular Reference to Human-Animal Interactions."] Web. 27 April 2010] In 1929, a marriage was reported between a Wapishana man and a Macushi woman and today there are a few mixed marriages in the Kanaku Mountains area of Guyana.
A number of coastal Arawaks are settled in Wapishana communities, they are mostly schoolteachers from Moruca area in northwest Guyana, their relationships with indigenous inhabitants can involve some tension, despite the fact that mixed marriages are more accepted now.
There has been a drastic change in the relationship of the Rupununi area with the coast recently with the completion of road between
Georgetown and
Lethem, which leads to Roraima's state capital,
Boa Vista.
In Brazil
Since the earliest days of European contact with the Wapishana, the political situation in Brazil has been different from the one in Guyana. According to Henfry, the Brazilian state of Roraima includes 23 Wapishana villages, which actually all include large non-Wapishana and mixed-race populations. The ancestors of these people were the first of Roraima's indigenous population to encounter European explorers, who gained access to the area from time to time throughout the 18th century. A slight government interference before the mid-20th century left effective political control in the hands of cattle ranchers. By the 1970s it was reported that 60% of Brazil's Wapishana and Atorai were
integrated, speaking Portuguese as their first language, and the rest were mostly bilingual and in permanent contact with the state.
In Guyana
The main difference between the Brazilian and Guyanese Wapishana is their rights to land. In Guyana,
Amerindian
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...
villages are state elected administrative units but there is nothing relating to the
reservation system and villages are in remote areas. Although the situation of Guyanese Wapishana is better than most part of the Brazilian population of Wapishana, it is still far from perfect. Entirely, Amerindians are the least privileged group of Guyanese society. Among their problems are health and education, unfortunately the Rupununi region is one of those Amerindian populations that are particularly suffering from these problems, according to a study demonstrated by the ARU.
See also
*
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
Indigenous peoples in Brazil ( pt, povos indígenas no Brasil) or Indigenous Brazilians ( pt, indígenas brasileiros, links=no) once comprised an estimated 2000 tribes and nations inhabiting what is now the country of Brazil, before European con ...
*
Indigenous peoples in 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 ...
References
;
External links
Wapichan Nao (Guyana)Information site of the Wapichan people of Guyana
Wapishana language dictionary online from IDS(select simple or advanced browsing)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wapishana
Ethnic groups in Brazil
Ethnic groups in Guyana
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
Indigenous peoples in Guyana
Indigenous peoples of the Guianas