Wapishana

The Wapishana or Wapichan (or Wapisiana, Wapitxana, Vapidiana, Wapixana) are an indigenous group found in the Roraima area of northern Brazil and southern Guyana. Currently the Wapishana are located in the State of Roraima, Brazil, northern and eastern Boa Vista, as well as in the southern Rupununi savannas of Guyana. In their villages, one can find ranches, settlements, small towns, and commercial developments of Brazilians. In Guyana, the Wapishana villages are located between the Takutu, Rupununi, and Kwitaro rivers, bordering the Macushi territory in the Kanuku Mountains to the north, and extending as far as the Wai-Wai territory to the south. In Brazilian territory, in the north eastern portion of Roraima, the Wapishana villages are mostly located in the Serra da Lua (Moon Ridge) region between the Branco River and one of its affluent, the Tacutu. On the lower Uraricoera River, another affluent of the Branco, most of the villages contain a mixed population of Wapishana and Macushi. Historical boundaries extend as far up as the Rio Branco basin, but the Wapishana were driven south by the Macushi under pressure by European colonizers. Wapishana population totals around 9,441 in Brazil (2014 estimate), 6,000 in Guyana (1990 estimate), and 37 in Venezuela (2011 estimate). Previous population estimates were between 10,000 and 11,000 people in 1997, approximately 5,000 Wapishana in Southern Rupununi, southern area of Guyana bordering Brazil in 1991, and only 2,995 Wapishana in twenty Brazilian villages estimated by the Fundação Nacional do Índio in 1984. Wapishana is classified as a member of the Arawak language family. Wapishana is the only remaining Arawakan language in the circum-Roraima area. The term Arawak is more generally used to refer to the Arawakan or Lokono languages spoken in Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and in some of the Antilles Islands. Most Brazilian Wapishana often speak Portuguese, instead of Wapishana and many Guyanese Wapishana speak English in addition to Wapishana.