The Waikerí or Guaiqueríes were an indigenous people of northern
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 ...
. They may have been related to the
Warao people
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 pe ...
, or to 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 Great ...
s or
Cumanagotos. The Waikerí lived primarily on Venezuela's coastal islands of
Isla Margarita
Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the northeastern coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the island.
History
...
,
Cubagua
Cubagua Island or Isla de Cubagua () is the smallest and least populated of the three islands constituting the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, after Margarita Island and Coche Island. It is located north of the Araya Peninsula, the closest ...
and
Coche, as well as in the nearby coastal areas of the mainland, such as the
Araya Peninsula.
According to
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...
, the Waikerí said that their language and that of the Warao were related.
[Humboldt, Alexander: Reise in die Äquinoctial-gegenden des Neuen Kontinents (1991). Insel Verlag. Primer Tomo. Pág. 229. .]
References
Indigenous peoples in Venezuela
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