Wayuu
Encyclopedia
Wayuu is an Amerindian ethnic group of the La Guajira Peninsula
La Guajira Desert
La Guajira Desert is located in the northernmost part of Colombia, north of Bogota, in the La Guajira Department, covering most of La Guajira Peninsula including Venezuelan territory. The area holds immense coal reserves, exploited in a zone known as El Cerrejon...

 in northern Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 and northwest Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

. They are part of the Maipurean
Maipurean
Arawakan , also known as Maipurean , is a language family that spans from the Caribbean and Central America to every country in South America except Ecuador, Uruguay and Chile...

 (Arawak) language family.

Geography

The Wayuu inhabit the arid La Guajira Peninsula
La Guajira Desert
La Guajira Desert is located in the northernmost part of Colombia, north of Bogota, in the La Guajira Department, covering most of La Guajira Peninsula including Venezuelan territory. The area holds immense coal reserves, exploited in a zone known as El Cerrejon...

 straddling the Venezuela-Colombia border, on the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

 coast. Two major rivers flow through this mostly harsh environment; the Rancheria River in Colombia and the El Limon River in Venezuela representing the main source of water, along with artificial ponds designed to hold rain water during the rain season.

The territory has equatorial weather seasons: a rainy season from September to December, which they call Juyapu; a dry season
Dry season
The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...

, known by them as Jemial, from December to April; a second rainy season called Iwa from April to May; and a long second dry season from May to September.

Guajira rebellion

The Wayuu had never been subjugated by the Spanish. The two groups were in a more or less permanent state of war. There had been rebellions in 1701 (when they destroyed a Capuchin mission), 1727 (when more than 2,000 Indians 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 Indians in the territory of Colombia, they were unique in having learned the use of firearms and horses.

In 1769 the Spanish took 22 Wayuus captive, in order to put them to work building the fortifications of Cartagena. The reaction of the Indians was unexpected. On May 2, 1769 at El Rincón, near Río de la Hacha
Riohacha
Riohacha, Rio Hacha or Rio de la Hacha , is a city in the Riohacha Municipality in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by the mouth of the Ranchería River and the Caribbean sea, capital city of the La Guajira Department. Founded by conquistador Nikolaus Federmann in 1535, Riohacha was named...

, they set their village afire, 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 Indians. At the head of this force was José Antonio de Sierra, a mestizo who had also headed the party that had taken the 22 Guajiro captives. The Guajiros 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.

This success was soon known in other Guajiro areas, and more men joined the revolt. According to Messía, at the peak there were 20,000 Indians under arms. Many had firearms acquired from English and Dutch smugglers, sometimes even from the Spanish. These enabled the rebels to take nearly all the settlements of the region, which they burned. According to the authorities, more than 100 Spaniards were killed and many others taken prisoner. Many cattle were also taken by the rebels. The Spaniards who could took refuge in Río de la Hacha and sent urgent messages to Maracaibo
Maracaibo
Maracaibo is a city and municipality located in northwestern Venezuela off the western coast of the Lake Maracaibo. It is the second-largest city in the country after the national capital Caracas and the capital of Zulia state...

, Valle de Upar, Santa Marta and Cartagena. Cartagena sent 100 troops. The rebels themselves were not unified. Sierra's relatives among the Indians took up arms against the rebels to avenge his death. A battle between the two groups of Indians was fought at La Soledad. That and the arrival of the Spanish reinforcements caused the rebellion to fade away, but not before the Guajiro had regained much territory.

Evangelization process

The process of evangelization
Evangelization
Evangelization is that process in the Christian religion which seeks to spread the Gospel and the knowledge of the Gospel throughout the world. It can be defined as so:-The birth of Christian evangelization:...

 of the Wayuu people restarted in 1887 with the return of the Capuchin friars under reverend friar José María de Valdeviejas. In 1905, Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...

 created the Vicariate of La Guajira and as first Vicar, friar Atanasio Vicente Soler y Royo in an attempt to "civilize" the Wayuu people.

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 in 1910 located by the Calancala River, Nazareth orphanage in the Serrania de Macuira mountains in 1913 creating a direct influence over the Rancheria
Ranchería
The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to native villages and to the workers' quarters of a ranch. English adopted the term with both these meanings, usually to designate the residential area of a rancho in the American...

s of Guarrachal, El Pájaro, Carazúa, Guaraguao, Murumana, Garra patamana and Karraipía. While Nazareth had some control over the rancherías of Taroa, Maguaipa, Guaseipá and Alpanapause. The friars constantly visited the settlements inviting 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 for the first time Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 and New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...

.

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
Department of La Guajira
La Guajira is a department of Colombia. It occupies most of its namesake peninsula, the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, facing the Caribbean Sea and Venezuela in the northern most part of South America...

. The Wayuu occupy a total area of 4171 square miles (10,802.8 km²) within approximately 10 Indian reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...

s, 8 of which are located south of the Department (including a very important one called Carraipia).

In Venezuela, the population is estimated at some 293,777 individuals, 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
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 of Maicao and Manaure
Manaure
Manaure was the name of an indigenous chief or Cacique in Maracaibo it may also refer to:*Manaure, Cesar a town and municipality in Colombia*Manaure, La Guajira a town and municipality in Colombia...

, where population densities are some of the highest in the peninsula. This irregular distribution is intimately related to seasonal changes in the weather - during the dry season, a significant percentage of the population crosses the border into Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

 to work in the city of Maracaibo
Maracaibo
Maracaibo is a city and municipality located in northwestern Venezuela off the western coast of the Lake Maracaibo. It is the second-largest city in the country after the national capital Caracas and the capital of Zulia state...

 and its nearby settlements; however, once the rainy season begins, these Wayuu tend to return to their homes on the Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

n side.

Wayuu people refer to themselves simply as "Wayuu" and do not acknowledge the term "Indian," instead preferring the term "people." They use the terms Kusina or "Indian" to refer to other ethnic indigenous groups, while using the term Alijuna (essentially meaning "civilized") to refer to outsiders or persons of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an ancestry.

Clans

Families in the Wayuu culture are divided into clans, some of these are:
CLAN TERRITORY TRANSLATION
Aapushana Eirakajaule
Jasauwo´u
Kanakantui
Matuwolu´u
Sipano´u
Ushuwo´u
watchulepu
Wolu´u
Watkasainru´u
Polumolu´u
Shooliyuu-kanejeruu
Sour with something
Land of the beach
Intercalated
Forgotten
Land of si´iya
Land of pans
Away from the pulp
round object
Inside the heart of the Wolunka house
Axe on the ground
Hideouts
Epieyu Lumoulein
Puuroulepu
bushes
where sleepiness is felt
Iguana Wo'upanalu'u
Puuroulepu
Close to the eyes
For the birds
Jayaliyuu Kalimiru´u
Aralietu´u
Uraichein
Mekijanao
Animal teeth
to herd
Little "curarire"
Eyes without head
Jusayuu Polujalii
Maraalu'u
Beware of the Axe
On top of the land
Pausayuu Patsuarui
Paluwo'u
Frightened
Arrive at the sea
Sapuana Tuikii
Waaleru
Fire
Inside you
Tijuana Uchali´i
Oulemeru´u
Play
A lot
Uliana Alainmapu
Chawaisu
Anuapa´a
Pusichipa´a
Kaijawou´u
Sekuolu´u
Uchaispa´a
Pulashu´ulia
Soulawo´u
All come together
One on top of the other
When it turns into a boat
When it turns into a bat
The teeth of out eyes
Coming here
Going there
I have more power than you
The one that saws
Uliyuu Iisho´u Of Cardinal
Uraliyuu Aalasu
Paluuto´u
Passing by
My eyes are of sticks
Ulewana Iruwo´u Olive face
Walepushana Ishajiwo ´u
Alapuolu ´u
Burned eyes
laing eyes
Walapuana Atuairuku Nurturing

Language

The Wayuu language
Wayuu language
The Wayuu language, or Goajiro , is spoken by 305,000 indigenous Wayuu people in northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela on the Guajira Peninsula....

, called wayuunaiki, is part of the Arawak
Arawakan languages
Macro-Arawakan is a proposed language family of South America and the Caribbean based on the Arawakan languages. Sometimes the proposal is called Arawakan, in which case the central family is called Maipurean....

 language family predominant in different parts of the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

. They have some minimal differences in dialect depending on the region of La Guajira they live in; northern, central or southern zones of this region. Most of the new generations speak Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 fluently but they understand the importance of preserving their traditional native tongue.

To promote Cultural integration and Bilingual education
Bilingual education
Bilingual education involves teaching academic content in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model.-Bilingual education program models:...

 among Wayuus and other Colombians, the Kamusuchiwo'u Ethno-educative Center or Centro Etnoeducativo Kamusuchiwo'u came up with the initiative of creating the first illustrated dictionary
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...

 Wayuunaiki-Spanish, Spanish-Wayuunaiki. http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=97712

Religion

The structure of representation of this culture integrates a series of important deities into their mythical universe. Their central figure is Mareiwa, god creator of the Wayuu and founder of society. Pulowi and Juya, a married deity couple associated with procreation and life, where Pulowi is the female figure; related the wind and dry seasons, and Juya the male; a nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...

 figure related to hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

 and seen as a powerful killer. Wanulu represents the evil god, illness
Illness
Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...

 and death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

.

Children are born at home, assisted by the mother-in-law or the nearest female relative and represent for the Wayuu, in some way, the preservation of their species, preferring to feed children first and following strict diets when the surivival 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
Menstruation
Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining . It occurs on a regular basis in sexually reproductive-age females of certain mammal species. This article focuses on human menstruation.-Overview:...

, requiring them to go through a period of seclusion for anywhere from 2 months up to 2 years. The girl is obliged to get a haircut shaving her head, and to rest in a hammock
Hammock
A hammock is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a woven network of twine or thin rope stretched with ropes between two firm anchor points such as trees or posts....

 hung near the house. She is also fed with a special vegetarian diet called Jaguapi, bathes with frequency. Young girls undergo female genital mutilation, a procedure that has caused much strife within, and outside of, the Wayuu community. The girl's mother, grandmother, or other female relatives usually perform the ritual with unsterilized, inadequate instruments as perceived by modern medical science. She is mutilated and sequestered as a form of "security" for her future husband that she will be faithful and that she will comply with her duty to serve the men of the clan.

'"PLEASE READE THIS: I just read this information because one friend of mine sent it to my email, asking me if this female gender mutilation (FGM) is a practice in my culture. I am a Wayuu indigenous woman and this information related with the FGM that is published here is not true. FGM is not a practice in our culture. I really want to know who is just replicating wrong ideas and parameters that are totally far away from the reality. Is very must important just to ask and really research about a cuture, before destroying it. Please, whether you are interested in the Wayuu Culture, there is a lot of good information, but not this lies and misrepresentation.

This information came because of an UNIVISION TV Show named "Caso Cerrado" conducted by Ana María Polo, who shows a very bad theater about the Wayuu culture and its practices. Please whether you want more information about Wayuu women try to contact Wayuu women or wayuu women organizations as Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu"

She is taught such skills as weaving, cooking, and how to "be" with her husband. Her existence is the leader of the society. The women are shamans and politicians, hence why the puberty ritual is based more on women than men. They want their women to be full of wisdom and maturity. She is taught on how to become a woman and female labor: sewing, birth control, and pregnancy. Human rights advocacy perceives the harmful effects of such age-old rituals to be unacceptable by the world at large. It is unclear if these rituals are based on their religion, or if they have conveniently developed as a by-product of an inherent gender bias, and sexist culture in general. The Wayuu also practice polygamy where only the man may have multiple wives. Nearly all marriages are arranged and accompanied by a dowry. Young girls are promised to men of the clan as young as 10–12 years old, right around the time they are becoming of child-bearing age. The perceived intention is to wed her to a man before risking that she become pregnant out of wedlock or arrangement, an act that is of great social shame for the Wayuu, and specifically for the woman's family's honor and credibility.

This culture believes that the life cycle doesn't end with death, but that a relationship with one's bones continues. Burial
Burial
Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...

s are very important. The parents of the dead act in a certain way; first the cadaver is buried with personal belongings, and then, after two years, the body is exhumed, incinerated, put into ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

s, and buried once again in the clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...

's cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

.

Lifestyle

A traditional Wayuu settlement is made up of five or six houses that made up caserios or rancheria
Ranchería
The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to native villages and to the workers' quarters of a ranch. English adopted the term with both these meanings, usually to designate the residential area of a rancho in the American...

s. Each rancheria has a name after a plant, animal or geographic place. A territory that contains many rancherias is named after the mother's last name, because of the matriarchal structure of the Wayuu culture. The Wayuus never group into towns and rancherias are usually isolated and far from each other, to control and prevent mixing of their goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...

 herd
Herd
Herd refers to a social grouping of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic, and also to the form of collective animal behavior associated with this or as a verb, to herd, to its control by another species such as humans or dogs.The term herd is generally applied to mammals,...

s.

The typical house is a small structure called piichi or miichi, generally divided into two rooms where they hang hamoc
Hammock
A hammock is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a woven network of twine or thin rope stretched with ropes between two firm anchor points such as trees or posts....

s to sleep and to keep personal belongings such as cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

 made purses
Handbag
A handbag, or purse in American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag that is often fashionably designed, typically used by women, to hold personal items such as wallet/coins, keys, cosmetics, a hairbrush, pepper spray, cigarettes, mobile phone etc....

 and ceramics to keep water. Living quarters can be either rectangular or semi-circular and the rooftop is made up of dried cactus
Cactus
A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...

 hearts. Traditionally, the walls are made out of yotojoro - a wattle and daub
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...

 of mud
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...

, hay
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...

 and dried cane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

s -, but some of them have shifted towards a more modern construction style, like using cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...

 and other materials.

Close to the main house they erect a common area, similar to a living room
Living room
A living room, also known as sitting room, lounge room or lounge , is a room for entertaining adult guests, reading, or other activities...

 named luma or enramada, but almost in the open. It's made out of six pillars and a flat roof and serves as a common area for everyday duties and where visitors are attended, business activities are handled and where relatives hang their hammock
Hammock
A hammock is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a woven network of twine or thin rope stretched with ropes between two firm anchor points such as trees or posts....

s for the noon power nap
Power nap
A power nap is a short sleep which terminates before the occurrence of deep sleep or slow-wave sleep , intended to quickly revitalize the subject. The expression was coined by Cornell University social psychologist James Maas.-Characteristics:...

.

The Dagger Cactus (Stenocereus griseus
Stenocereus griseus
Stenocereus griseus, also known as the Mexican organ pipe, dagger cactus, and pitayo de mayois, is a species of cactus.-Distribution:...

) which the Wayuu call yosú is the preferred source of roof and yotojoro wood. This plant is used for many other purposes - it can be planted to produce living fence
Fence
A fence is a freestanding structure designed to restrict or prevent movement across a boundary. It is generally distinguished from a wall by the lightness of its construction: a wall is usually restricted to such barriers made from solid brick or concrete, blocking vision as well as passage .Fences...

s around pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...

land, and when young the shoots are fed to goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...

s. The fruit (iguaraya) are edible and pitahaya-like and are a popular food among the Wayuu. Because the demand for yosú as food or for wood can be seasonally high, the plant population at times declines to a point where little fruit or cuttings for fences are available. It has thus been proposed to develop techniques by which the Wayuu can cultivate or tend for the cactus as a proper crop.

Yotojoro originally refers to the cane-like inner wood of the yosú cactus. Given the varying availability of sufficient yosú wood for construction, other plants are also utilized. These include namely trupillo or turpío (Prosopis juliflora
Prosopis juliflora
Prosopis juliflora is a shrub or small tree native to Mexico, South America and the Caribbean. It has become established as a weed in Asia, Australia and elsewhere. Its uses include forage, wood and environmental management. The tree grows to a height of up to and has a trunk with a diameter of...

), jattá (Haematoxylum brasiletto
Haematoxylum brasiletto
Haematoxylum brasiletto, or Mexican logwood, is a species of tropical hardwood tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is known in its native Mexico and Guatemala as "palo de brasil" or "palo de tinto". The timber is used to make bows for stringed instruments, the manufacture of dyes and in...

), kapchip (Capparis zeylandica) and kayush (Peruvian Apple Cactus, Cereus repandus).

Music and dances

The Wayuu have developed their own traditional music and instruments. Their culture directly associates economy and social life with music; such as in the case of raising cattle, in which the indigenous sang to their animals. They also used music for meetings and celebrations, as well as mourning in funerals. The Yonna is the traditional dance of the Wayuu and is used to honor guests.

The Wayuus created many rustic musical instruments called Kashi, Sawawa (type of flute), ma'asi, totoy and the taliraai (tubular flute), wootoroyoi (type of clarinet), among others. The Majayura or ritual of the "young wayuu virgin" in which the female dances towards the male for marriage, while other males perform rhythms with their traditional instruments until the male tumbles onto the ground.

See also

  • Arhuacos
    Arhuacos
    The Arhuaco people, also called the Aruacos, Ica, Ijca or Bintuk, names of a Native American ethnic group part of the Chibcha family, descendents of the Tairona Culture concentrated in northern Colombia in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.-Territory:The Arhuacos live in the upper valleys of the...

  • Haplogroup Q1a3a
  • Indigenous peoples of the Americas
    Indigenous peoples of the Americas
    The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

  • Koguis
    Koguis
    The Kogi or Cogui or Kaggabba, translated "jaguar" in the Kogi language are a Native American ethnic group that lives in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. They are one of the few surviving Pre-Columbian civilizations of South America...

  • Tairona
    Tairona
    Tairona was a group of chiefdoms in the region of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in present-day Cesar, Magdalena and La Guajira Departments of Colombia, South America, which goes back at least to the 1st century AD and had significant demographic growth around the 11th century.The Tairona people...

    s
  • Patricia Velásquez
    Patricia Velásquez
    Patricia Carola Velásquez Semprún is a Venezuelan actress and fashion model. She is often considered to be the first Latin supermodel.-Early life:...

    actress/model and founder of the Wayúu Tayá Foundation

Seasaltusa.com

External links

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