Area: north of Pará, Brazil, French Guiana and Surinam (Map)
Other Names: Apalai; Uaiana
Population: 1,600 inhabitants (Brazil, 415; Surinam, 400, French Guiana, 800)
Language Root: Karib
First Contact: 1730 (Orokoyennes)
Economy: Agriculture and Artisan works
Today: Attempting to integrate into Brazilian economic society.
According to the historical sources and their own reports, the Aparai
and Wayana have distinct origins. The Aparai come from the south bank of the
Amazon River, having migrated to the region of the lower and middle courses of
the Curuá, Maicuru, Jari and East Paru rivers, and from there to the area they
presently inhabit. The Wayana, in turn, have inhabited for a long time the
region of the upper and middle course of the East Paru River, its tributary the
Citaré, the upper Jarí River, besides the Litani, Paloemeu rivers and
tributaries. Today, the Aparai and Wayana are distributed in three territorial
groups defined by the coordinates of the East Paru River, in Brazil; the Marouni
River, in French Guiana; and the Tapanahoni River in Surinam. While the great
majority of the Aparai is found in Brazilian territory, the Wayana are also
distributed in villages in French Guiana and Surinam. This distribution into
three distinct territorial groups is the result of their long history of contact
with non-Indians, marked by migrations, processes of fission and fusion with
other indigenous peoples. In any case, spatial distance does not represent an
obstacle to the interaction among these territorial groups, which takes place,
basically, through kinship ties and formal trade partnerships
Like most of the other indigenous groups of the region of the Guianas, the
Aparai and the Wayana have a subsistence economy, based on hunting, fishing,
gathering and cultivation of fruits and root crops. These economic activities
are defined by two seasons that divide the year throughout the northern region
of the country: "summer", or the dry season, which covers approximately the
period between the months of July to December; and "winter", the rainy season,
between January and July. This annual cycle guides not only the calendar of
activities – particularly the clearing, felling, cleaning, burning, planting and
harvesting of the gardens –, but also the appearance of animal, fish, and fruits
species available and, consequently, the food diet of the Aparai and Wayana.
Generally speaking, in the "winter", during the rains, the consumption of
root crops is reduced so as not to produce a shortage for the rest of the year,
until a new harvest is made. Fishing diminishes with the level of the rivers and
streams, and, in counterpart, hunting is given greater emphasis with the
emergence of small islands along the river, where animals are forced to stay. In
the "summer", in turn, most of the time is used for preparing the earth to plant
the gardens, this also being a period which is quite good for fishing, given the
concentration of fish in the lakes and small water courses.
The tasks are organized according to a rigid sexual division of labor. It is
up to the men to hunt, fish, clear gardens (felling the trees, burning and
cleaning) and make new settlements, build houses, and also produce all of the
woven domestic utensils (fans, baskets and recipients, manioc squeezers, etc.).
The women are responsible for fetching water and taking care of the fire, the
preparation of food, the processing of root crops (producing manioc flour, bread
and, above all, beverages (fermented), and all production of ceramics (pots and
ovens to toast manioc bread and manioc flour) and weaving of cotton (hammocks,
straps, etc.). Both sexes participate in gathering, planting and harvesting of
the garden products, and the great fishing expeditions using timbó poison held
during the dry season.
In the gardens various species of root crops are cultivated (more than 30
species of manioc, cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, etc.), sugarcane, fruits
(bananas, watermelons, pumpkin, mango, maracujá, cherimoya, orange and lime),
cotton, urucum dye and genipap. Several types of fruits are planted around the
villages. Throughout the year, expeditions are made into the forest for hunting
and gathering. Through hunting, the Aparai and Wayana add to their diet: tapirs,
deer, rodents (paca and cutia, for example), monkeys (cuatá and guariba among
others), wild pigs (peccary and boar), birds (curassow, jacamim, toucan),
alligator and lizards etc. The techniques used depend on the species of animal
being hunted and the time of the year. Fishing is also characterized by a
diversity of fish caught and techniques used: tucunaré, surubim, pacu and
piranha are some of the species obtained in the region. The predominant
technique is with industrialized hook and line, but also “thresher” nets are
used (above all, during the time of the rains), bow and arrow and tmbó plant
poison (in the dry season).
Between 1977 and 1990, there was a great increase in the production and
commercialization of Aparai and Wayana artwork, which has been supported since
then by the FUNAI and its Artíndia Program. From 1997 on, the Association of
Indigenous Peoples of the Tumucumaque (APITU) initiated the Tykasahmo Project
for encouraging the production and commercialization of Aparai and Wayana
artwork, with financing from the Demonstrative Projects Subprogram (PD/A-PPG7),
and the installation of three new ‘canteens’ for buying and selling in the
villages.
Text from © Instituto Socioambiental. You can
find their web site here:
http://www.socioambiental.org/e/
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Two
separate tribes that are joined together culturally and geographically. They are
of the same language root and the two dialects are very similar. The fusion took
place due to intermarriage and geographical proximity. The ceremony
"Marake" is the most important part of this group's life. One will see
about eight of these festivals in a lifetime. They use tall masks representing
"Orok", a mystical bird in the creation explanation. The ceremony
finishes with the application of the "kunana", three mystical figures
filled with Tucandeira ants and placed on the chest of the boy or girl entering
adulthood. The participants are stung by as many as fifty ants at once but must
remain rigid. These Tucandeira ants are aggressive and their sting is excruciatingly
painful. This clearly severs the bond of childhood and from then on they live
only in the world of the adult responsibility.
Additional Information
Yale Bulletin Calendar - News Stories - Amongst the Wayana-Aparai peoples of
Brazil, when a boy reaches puberty, he must demonstrate his readiness to assume
adult status at the Tocandira ceremony.
Wayana
photos
Apalai:
a language of Brazil
Language
Museum - Wayana
Ethnologue
report for language code: WAY - Ethnologue and bibliography information on
Wayana.
Les
Amerindiens
Microsoft Word - WAYANA BASELINE STUDY
Guggenheim Museum - Brazil Body & Soul
Renzo Duin
Gallery 11, Spirit of Place Mask, Wayana, Brazil
A grammar of Wayana
Wayana Words
