Wayuu people

and Venezuela The Wayuu inhabit the arid Guajira Peninsula straddling the Venezuela-Colombia border, on the Caribbean Sea coast. Two major rivers flow through this mostly harsh environment: the Ranchería River in Colombia and the El Limón River in Venezuela, representing the main sources of water. They are accompanied by artificial ponds designed to hold rainwater during the rain season. The territory has equatorial weather seasons: a rainy season from September to December, which they call Juyapu; a dry season, known by them as Jemial, from December to April; a second rainy season called Iwa from April to May; and a second dry season from May to September. ==History==

Guajira rebellion Although the Wayuu were never subjugated by the Spanish, the two groups were in a more or less permanent state of war. There were rebellions in 1701 (when they destroyed a Capuchin mission), 1727 (when more than 2,000 natives attacked the Spanish), 1741, 1757, 1761 and 1768. In 1718, Governor Soto de Herrera called them "barbarians, horse thieves, worthy of death, without God, without law and without a king". Of all the Indigenous peoples in the territory of Colombia, they were unique in having learned the use of firearms and horses. In 1769, the Spanish captured 22 Wayuus in order to put them to work building the fortifications of Cartagena. In reaction, on May 2, 1769, at El Rincón, near Río de la Hacha, Wayuu set the village on fire, burning the church and two Spaniards who had taken refuge in it. They also captured the priest. The Spanish immediately dispatched an expedition from El Rincón to capture the Wayuu. This force was led by José Antonio de Sierra, a mestizo who had also led the party that captured the 22 Guajiro. They recognized him and forced his party to take refuge in the house of the curate, which they then set afire. Sierra and eight of his men were killed. In 1771, a Spanish force sent from Cartagena to quash the Indigenous insurgency in the Guajira Peninsula, and what they found was a fearsome army with British guns. On top of having connections with both British and Dutch merchants, Wayuu people would trade pearls and brazilwood to these merchants in return for contraband slaves. In fact, Wayuu chiefs Pablo Majusares and Toribio Caporinche both owned eight African slaves. Until Venezuelan independence was to be official, the Wayuu remained a constant threat and remained autonomous from the Spanish, with kidnappings occurring from both sides occasionally. When questioned about laws that had already been put into place regarding Indigenous abuse in Spanish territory, Spanish officers would reply to concerns for using captives as slaves as "just," claiming that belligerence allows for compensation. Venezuelan independence was declared in 1811 but not fully achieved until 1821 when Simón Bolívar led the Venezuelan War of Independence. The removal of debt peonage in Venezuela did not officially end until 1854, when President José Gregorio Monagas (1851–1855) promised land owners compensation for the release of their so-called "unvaluable" workers growing in age. From 1880 to 1936, local areas were able to continue to exploit Indigenous workers, as the Venezuelan government maintained most of their focus on the main cities. The oral tradition of the Wayuu people suggests that getting tricked into coerced labor happened frequently. Wayuu people increasingly sought to engage in the wage labor economy, and were offered free transportation to other settlements for wage labor, only to be taken to settlements for unpaid work. There are also indications in which local Venezuelan officials ordered villages of the Wayuu to be raided, where the people would be captured. Afro-descendants were brought in from countries like Cuba, for many land owners felt as though they needed more workers, and there was not a huge supply in Wayuu captives. With the hacienda system still continuing to be an issue, and with Venezuela's land being mainly farmland, captives were usually sent to work agriculture. The friars then created the orphanages for Wayuu children beginning with the La Sierrita orphanage, built in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains in 1903, followed by the San Antonio orphanage, located by the Calancala River, in 1910, and the Nazareth orphanage in the Serrania de Macuira mountains in 1913, creating a direct influence over the Rancherias of Guarrachal, El Pájaro, Carazúa, Guaraguao, Murumana, Garra patamana and Karraipía, with Nazareth exerting some control over the rancherias of Taroa, Maguaipa, Guaseipá and Alpanapause. The friars constantly visited the settlements inviting the Wayuu to attend mass. Wayuu children in the orphanage were educated with traditional European customs. Conflicts between the Wayuu people and the Colombian government decreased since then. In 1942 Uribia celebrated Christmas and New Year's Eve for the first time. == Demographics ==

According to a 1997 census in Colombia, the Wayuu population numbered approximately 144,003 – representing 20% of Colombia's total Amerindian population and 48% of the population of the Department of La Guajira. The Wayuu occupy a total area of within approximately ten settlements, eight of which are located south of the Department (including a major one called Carraipia). In Venezuela, the Wayuu population is estimated at 293,777, according to the 2001 census, with some 60,000 living in the city of Maracaibo. This makes the Wayuu the largest indigenous group in Venezuela, representing 57.5% of the Amerindian population. Wayuu communities are not uniformly distributed within these territories, as their population is concentrated primarily in the outskirts of such settlements as Nazareth and Jala'ala, on the plains of Wopu'muin and Uribia, and within the municipalities of Maicao and Manaure, where population densities are some of the highest in the peninsula. This irregular distribution is intimately related to seasonal changes in weather – during the dry season, a significant proportion of the population crosses the border into Venezuela to work in the city of Maracaibo and its nearby settlements; once the rainy season begins, these Wayuu tend to return to their homes on the Colombian side. The Wayuu people refer to themselves simply as "Wayuu" and do not acknowledge the term "Indian", preferring instead the term "people". They use the terms Kusina or "Indian" to refer to other ethnic indigenous groups, while using the term Alijuna (essentially meaning "the one who damages") to refer to outsiders or persons of European ancestry. ==Clans==

Families in the Wayuu culture are divided into clans, some of which are: == Language ==

The Wayuu language, called wayuunaiki, is part of the Arawak language family predominant in different parts of the Caribbean. There are small differences in dialect within the region of La Guajira: the northern, central or southern zones. Most of the younger generation speak Spanish fluently but understand the importance of preserving their traditional language. To promote cultural integration and bilingual education among Wayuus and other Colombians, the ''Kamusuchiwo'u Ethno-educative Center, or Centro Etnoeducativo Kamusuchiwo'u'', started an initiative to create the first illustrated Wayuunaiki-Spanish, Spanish-Wayuunaiki dictionary. == Religion and society==

The central figure of the Wayuu religion is Maleiwa (God) creator of everything, of the Wayuu and the founder of society. Pulowi and Juya, spiritual beings, like demigods, are a married couple associated with procreation and life, where Pulowi is the female figure related to the wind and dry seasons, and Juya the male, is a nomad and related to hunting who is seen as a powerful killer. Wanülu represents the evil spirit being of illness, and death. Children are born at home, assisted by the mother-in-law or the nearest female relative. Priority is placed on the well-being of the child as women prefer to feed children first and follow strict diets when the survival of children is not assured. Puberty is not very important among boys, but girls are exposed to rituals as early as 12 years old or when they start menstruating, requiring them to go through a period of seclusion for anywhere from two months up to two years. Girls are obliged to shave their heads and rest in a chinchorro or large hammock. During this period, Wayuu girls are taught how to be a wife in which a large part consists of cooking and learning the art of crocheting Wayuu bags. She is also fed with a special vegetarian diet called Jaguapi, and bathes frequently. Women play important roles in the society, but it is not quite a matriarchal one. The Wayuu want their women to be wise and mature. Nearly all traditional marriages are arranged and accompanied by a dowry, which is given to the mother's brothers and uncles. Young girls are promised to men of the clan as young as 11 years old, around the time they are becoming of child-bearing age. The perceived intention is to wed her to a man before risking that pregnancy out of wedlock or arrangement, a cause of great social shame, specifically for the woman's family's honor and credibility. Men may have multiple wives (polygamy). The Wayuu believe that the life cycle does not end with death, but that a relationship with one's bones continues. Burials are very important. The relatives of the dead act in a certain way: first, the body is buried with personal belongings; after five years, the bones are exhumed, put into ceramics or a chinchorro (hammock), and reburied in the clan's cemetery. == Lifestyle ==

A traditional Wayuu settlement is made up of five or six houses that made up caseríos or rancherías. Each ranchería is named after a plant, animal or geographic place. A territory that contains many rancherias is named after the mother's last name; that is, society is matrilineal. The Wayuu congregated in rancherias are usually isolated and far from each other to avoid mixing their goat herds. s by the Caribbean Sea. The typical house is a small structure called a piichi or miichi, generally divided into two rooms with hammocks to sleep in and keep personal belongings such purses or mochilas of acrylic fiber and ceramics to keep water. Wayuu culture is known for making Wayuu bags or mochilas. There are many styles of mochilas. A susu is a backpack typically 20–30 cm wide and 35 cm high, used to store personal and work items. Characteristic for the fabrics are the decorating patterns inspired by nature and what the culture sees around. Living quarters are either rectangular or semi-circular. Close to the main house is a common area called a luma or enramada, similar to a living room but almost in the open. Built of six pillars with a flat roof, it is used for everyday duties and to attend to visitors and business activities. Family members hang their hammocks there for the noon nap. Traditionally, the walls are made of yotojoro – a wattle and daub of mud, hay and dried canes, but some Wayuu now use more modern construction with cement and other materials. The preferred material for roofing and yotojoro wood is the dagger cactus (Stenocereus griseus), which the Wayuu call yosú. The word yotojoro originally referred to the cane-like inner wood of the yosú cactus. This plant is used for many other purposes: it is planted to create living fences around pastures; young shoots are fed to goats; the fruit (iguaraya) is similar to pitahaya and is a popular food among the Wayuu. Because the demand for yosú as food and wood is seasonal, at times there is little fruit, building material or even cuttings for fences. It has thus been proposed to develop techniques for the Wayuu to cultivate it. Girls are taught a dance that is at the heart of the Majayura, the ritual passage of the "young Wayuu virgin". She must dance in a courtship dance (baile de cortejo) with prospective suitors. With her head covered and wearing a fabric shawl and dress, the girl dances forward with small steps and arms outstretched, swooping like a bird, within a circle made up of people from the village. The male dances backward before her, coming close and yielding as they circle around, until he finally falls to the ground. The adult men play traditional drums and musical instruments in their ring around the dancers. If a male is respected in his clan and accepted, he must pay a dowry to the girl's mother and male relatives. This used to be in the form of goats and sheep for the support of the clan. Today, Wayuu bags are the most exported handicraft in all of Colombia. The Wayuu have resented the way that foreigners have profited more from their work than do the artisans. ==Representation in media==

• The Wayuu are among the peoples depicted in the 1921 documentary Blandt Syd-Amerikas urskovsindianere (Among the Primeval Forest Indians of South America). • The feature film Pájaros de verano (Birds of Passage, 2019) is set on the Guajira peninsula and among the Wayuu in the 1970s. Directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, it stars José Acosta and Carmiña Martínez. In addition, many non-actor Wayuu are included in the film, which is primarily in the Wayuu language. It explores the disruption of traditional clan culture after members of the tribe enter the drug trade, and are affected by great wealth and violence. • The film "" by the German filmmaker is about the forced displacement of Wayuu people from the town of Tamaquito. The Swiss-based company Glencore with its Colombian subsidiary el Cerrejon needs their land for coal-mining. ==Notable people==

• Luis Díaz (born 1997), Colombian football player for FC Bayern Munich and national team • Aloha Núñez (born 1983), former Minister of Indigenous Peoples of Venezuela • Lido Pimienta (born 1986), Colombian–Canadian musician, artist and winner of the 2017 Polaris Music Prize • Noelí Pocaterra (born 1936), Venezuelan indigenous activist and politician • Arelis Uriana (born 1976), first indigenous woman to run for President of Colombia in 2022 • Patricia Velásquez (born 1971), Venezuelan actress, model and founder of the Wayúu Tayá Foundation ==See also==