Wai-wai people

The Wai-wai (also written Waiwai or Wai Wai) are a Carib-speaking Indigenous people of Guyana and northern Brazil. Their society consists of different lowland forest peoples who have maintained much of their cultural identity with the exception of Christianity which was introduced to them in the late 1950s. The Umana Yana in Georgetown, Guyana, takes its name from the Wai-Wai for "meeting place". The explorer, Sir Robert Schomburgk, may have been the first western to have contact with the Wai-Wai in December 1837. He found one village on a tributary of the Essequebo river, along with two others on the Mapuera River in Brazil. Schomburgk describes the Wai-Wai as: "Of medium height, their skin lighter than that of Tarumas, in their general appearance and language they resemble the Makuskis a good deal. The Woyawais are great hunters and celebrated for their dogs. In appearance they are generally dirty." During the early 20th century, some of the Wai-Wai in Brazil moved further north. It is speculated that this is because of the influenza epidemic that nearly exterminated the Taruma tribe. From 1933 to 1938, the Wai-Wai people moved deeper in Guyana's interior to avoid the outsiders working with the Boundary Commission. The Wai-wai in Guyana live in the far south of the country, near the headwaters of the Essequibo River. There are approximately 200 Wai-wai in Guyana, region of the country known as Kanashen. It is also a community-owned conservation area. There are about 2,000 Wai-wai in Brazil, and they mostly reside in Terra Indígena Wai-wai, Terra Indígena Trombetas-Mapuera, and Terra Indígena Nhamundá-Mapuera. These are located mainly in the northern states of Roraima and Pará. Settlements include: Mapuera in Pará and Jatapu-zine, Catual, Cobra, Pequeno Paraíso in Roraima. Though the Wai Wai are great hunters, they are also farmers. However, the light, thin soil they have to work with and an annual rainfall of 4 meters can make it very challenging to produce enough food. Their traditional method of farming was the 'slash and burn' method.