Wirö
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Venezuela: 345[1] (2020) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Venezuela, Colombia | |
| Languages | |
| Wirö language | |
| Religion | |
| Indigenous religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Piaroa |
The Wirö are an Indigenous people of Venezuela and eastern Colombia. In 2020, 345 Wirö lived in Venezuela and none lived in cities.[1]
Language
The Wirö speak the Wirö language, a Piaroa–Saliban language that is closely related to Piaroa. The two languages are somewhat mutually intelligible.[2]
Names
They are also known as the Mako-Wirö, Sáliba-Maco, Itoto, and Jojod.
Territory
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The Wirö live in the Orinoco Basin, particularly in mountainous areas near the Piaroa and Salibá people.[3]
Piaroa oral history states the Wirö originally lived through the basin of the Anaveni River, between the Uniana and Sipapu mountains.[4] The Wirös' name for their place of origin is Wirö Märiweka.[5] In 1830, they lived near the Piaroa, Mapoyo, Yabarana, Guahibo, and Puinavi peoples.[6] In 1945 and 1948, anthropologists noted that the Wirö lived along tributaries to the Ventuari River between the Guapuchí and Maigualida rivers.[7] In the 1950s, they lived along tributaries of the Marieta River, and by 1958 they lived along the Sipapo and Manapiare rivers.[7]
Culture
Historically, they produced curare,[8] a poison used on arrow tips to temporarily paralyze animals when hunting.
They were trading partners with the Piaroa and provided peramán (a type of resin) and torches.[4] They are often confused with the Piaroa since they share many cultural practices.[9]
They share the Warime ceremony with the Piaroa, which involves wearing masks and playing flutes. Warime likely predates European contact and is related to the Yurupari ceremony.[10] They also celebrate the harvest of peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) and other fruits in masked ceremonies.[11]
References
Notes
- ^ a b Rodríguez, "Una historia de las criaturas de Wajari", p. 231
- ^ Rodríguez, Alexander Mansutti Rodríguez (2020). "Una historia de las criaturas de Wajari". Pueblos indígenas y colonización del Orinoco Medio. Siglos XV al XX. Los Anges, Valparaíso, Chile: Universidad de los Andes, Museo Arqueológico. p. 102.
- ^ Rodríguez, "Una historia de las criaturas de Wajari," p. 49.
- ^ a b Rodríguez, "Una historia de las criaturas de Wajari", p. 103.
- ^ Mansutti-Rodríguez, Alexander (2006). Warime, la fiesta: Flautas, trompas y poder en el noroeste amazónico. Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela: Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana. p. 29. ISBN 9789806864023.
- ^ Rodríguez, "Una historia de las criaturas de Wajari," p. 89.
- ^ a b Rodríguez, "Una historia de las criaturas de Wajari," p. 226.
- ^ Rodríguez, "Una historia de las criaturas de Wajari", p. 53.
- ^ Antropológica (99–100 ed.). Caracas, Venezuela: Editorial Sucre. 2003.
- ^ Rodriguez, Alexander Mansutti; Goulard, Jean-Pierre; Karadimas, Dimitri. "The masks of power: The Warime piaroa".
- ^ Mansutti Rodriguez, Alexander Antonio (21 December 2012). "Yuruparí, Masks and Power Among the Piaroa". Espaço Ameríndio (in por). 6 (2). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. ISSN 1982-6524. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
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Bibliography
- Rodríguez, Alexander Mansutti (2020). "Una historia de las criaturas de Wajari". Pueblos indígenas y colonización del Orinoco Medio. Siglos XV al XX (PDF). Los Andes, Valparaíso, Chile: Universidad de los Andes, Museo Arqueológico.