Wapishana
Total population | |
---|---|
15,500 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Brazil | 9,441[1] |
Guyana | 6,000[1] |
Venezuela | 37[1] |
Languages | |
Wapishana Various local languages | |
Religion | |
Animism, Christianity |
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
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.[2]
Demographics
Wapishana population totals around 9,441 in Brazil (2014 estimate), 6,000 in Guyana (1990 estimate), and 37 in Venezuela (2011 estimate).[1]
Previous population estimates were between 10,000 and 11,000 people in 1997,
Language
History
The Wapishana's first indirect contact with Europeans was in 1498, Columbus's third voyage, which reached the coast of South America.[2] Information and objects were quickly exchanged through developed indigenous networks of trade.[2] 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.[1]
Settlements
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 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.[2]
The Brazilian
Economy
The Wapishana material culture is similar to other nearly peoples such as the
Wapishana men craft wooden stools and baskets, sieves, and squeezers for use in the preparation of cassava and other foods. They also make arrows, 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 making.[2]
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.[2]
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
Marriage and family
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.[2]
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.
A person's prized possessions are buried with them in the Wapishana culture for use in the afterlife.
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".[4] 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.[4] 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.[4] 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.[4]
In Guyana
The main difference between the Brazilian and Guyanese Wapishana is their rights to land. In Guyana,
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Povos Indígenas no Brasil". pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
- ISBN 978-0-19-924476-8.
- ^ a b c d e 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
External links
- Wapichan Nao (Guyana) Information site of the Wapichan people of Guyana
- Wapishana language dictionary online from IDS (select simple or advanced browsing)