WAYUU TRIBE

The Wayuu tribe is an American Indian town, it is aboriginal nomadic, the Wayuu tribe was already settled when Christopher Columbus arrived to America in 1492. Colombia had had lots of native people such as aruhacos, muiscas, taironas, chocoes, motilones among others. One of the most important Colombian tribes is the Wayuu, they have always tried to preserve and protect their traditions, laws, habits, religious rites and politics; it is the biggest indigenous family of Colombia and Venezuela.

The indigenous Wayuu never were in captivity for the Spanish conquers. When Christopher Columbus stepped in America, he always wanted to impose the Castilian language as well as in all Central America, he organized expeditions to teach the language, but it was impossible because Central America had too much aboriginal Chibcha, Arawak and Caribbean languages.

The Wayuu tribe was not invaded for the Spanish conquers, the indigenous Wayuu always have tried to survive in Colombia and Venezuela countries.

The Wayuu tribe claim to be very independent, they are situated in La Peninsula de la Guajira next to the Caribbean sea, they live in Colombia and Venezuela, they don`t find the frontier between the both countries, this indigenous ethnic group is biggest in both countries.

The Wayuu ethnic group takes up 15 300 Km in la peninsula de la Guajirá, Colombia and 12000 Km in Zulia state Venezuela.

The climate is warm and dry in la peninsula de la GuaJira. When it rains they say it is the YUYAPU season, which is between September to November, after it is Jemial dry season between December to April. Subsequently other season rain comes in May, it is named Iwa. The upper Guajira is named Macuira, jala`la, chiare, Cojoro, Cocinas and the Epitsù hill. Ranchería and Limón River are the principal hydratation spring.

The Wayuu tribe is the bigger Indigenous town of Venezuela and Colombia, it represents 8 for cent of the Zulia, Venezuela and near 45 for cent in La Guajira department, the indigenous Wayuu are 500.000 people.

The Wayuu town works grazing with different species animals, the bovines are the most important economic recourse, but the bovines rising is very difficult because the climatic ambient does not help them. Each indigenous Wayuu assembly has an own pig iron then their Bovines are marked with it, so the bovines are grateful in whatever place.

The Indigenous Wayuu has goats and Billy goats too they are named kaa`ula, it is care in flock of 100 to 150 animals. In the story the indigenous Wayuu fattened lots of horses, donkeys and mules, but the epidemics kill them off.

The flock is wealth; moreover it is the prestige of the Wayuu people, it is used commercially to realize pacts of marriage as straight descent, or to redeem of damage, crime or offence, solve conflicts and to restore the peace. They have a small market garden named apain, where they sow corn, yucca, cucumber, ahullama, melon and watermelon.

The Indigenous Wayuu catches fishing, the trade, exploitation of salt in the sea too. But the most important economic event is the traditional textiles. The Women are experts weavers they have conserved the most beautiful traditional drawing textiles in the hammocks, in the blankets, it is their principal clothes, in the susu, bags weave in cotton too.

The Wayuu tribe is an eiruku; it is society line-marriage, in the Wayuu tribe exist the pütchipü o pütche’ejachi, this indigenous solves the principal problems of the tribe.

How is the Wayuu marriage? First the Wayuu man can have many women, the indigenous Wayuu has to speak with her parents to name àpalà and they receive agreement as much as livestock and jewel.

The women are the most important in the Wayuu tribe; they are symbol of respects and unity.

What is their religion? The Piachi is a man; he has a lot of knowledge thought spirits, these spirits are:

Seyuu, he is a protected god and he is so called to cure

Maleiea is breeder

Pulowy

Juya

Ceremonies, the Wayuu tribe has Shamanes women and men, they use traditional tecnics as singing with maracas, they use tobacco, etc.

Undertaker ceremonies are special because the women have to shower the die body, his bones arrange into a undertaker urn and the die body is buried twins.

The Wayuu tribe speaks in Wayuunaiki, this language appertain to Arawak linguistic family, this language has 6 vowels and 16 consonants.

Vowels

	Anteriores	Centrales	Posteriores
opening	i	+	u
middle opening	e		o
closing		a

Consonants

	lip	alveolar	palatal	velar	glotal
oclusivas sordas	p	t	ĉ	k	‘
nasales	m	n	ñ
fricativas sordas		s	ŝ		h
vibrantes		†
vibrante doble		rr
aproximantes	w		y

THE WAYUU MUSIC

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~ por indigenouspeople20 en 11 mayo 2009.