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26-591: The Wayampi are also known as the Wajãpi, Wayapi, Wajapi, Oiampi, Barnaré, Oyampi, Oyampik, Waiapi, Walãpi, Guaiapi, Guayapi, Oiampipucu, Oyampí, Oyampipuku, Oyanpík, Waiampi, Wajapae, Wajapuku, Wayapae, and Wayãpi people. The Wayampi people speak the Wayampi language , which belongs to Subgroup VIII of the Tupi-Guarani languages . Wayampi has three dialects: Amapari Wayampi, Jari, and Oiyapoque Wayampi. The language

52-892: A Carib-speaking people located in the southeastern part of the Guiana highlands , a region divided between Brazil , Suriname , and French Guiana . In 1980, when the last census took place, the Wayana numbered some 1,500 individuals, of which 150 in Brazil , among the Apalai , 400 in Suriname , and 1,000 in French Guiana , along the Maroni River . About half of them still speak their original language . According to both oral tradition and descriptions by 20th century European explorers,

78-442: A community house or tukusipan . Coming of age was for a long time associated with a ritual called ëputop or maraké , in which a wicker frame full of stinging ants or wasps was applied to the bodies of adolescent boys and girls, who emerged from the ceremony as adult men and women. While older Wayana still to a degree define their Wayanahood by the number of ëputop they underwent during their lifetime, many younger Wayana reject

104-463: A tilde are always nasal ( ã , ẽ , ĩ , õ , ũ ), ö is like the German O umlaut , and b is pronounced mb . All letters are pronounced. This Tupian languages -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Wayana The Wayana (alternate names: Ajana , Uaiana , Alucuyana , Guaque , Ojana , Oyana , Orcocoyana , Pirixi , Urukuena , Waiano etc.) are

130-614: Is a Tupi–Guarani language spoken by the Wayãpi people. It is spoken in French Guiana and Brazil . In closed syllables, /e, o/ are heard as [ ɛ , ɔ ]. Wayãpi is spelt phonetically based on the International Phonetic Alphabet , and not according the French orthography. The spelling uses the letter ɨ for the close central unrounded vowel between i and u. E is always pronounced é , vowels with

156-574: Is written phonetically based on the International Phonetic Alphabet , and not according to the French or Portuguese orthography. The literacy rates are low. The first Western documents about the Wayampi are Portuguese sources from 1690 mentioning the groups migration from the lower Xingu River to the Jari River , then northward along the Jari and Amapari rivers. The Wayampi had been fighting with

182-548: The Teko were the only tribes who decided against citizenship. In 2000, they accepted French citizenship. In the late 1980s, gold was discovered near the river Camopi . Illegal gold miners moved into area, and the villages of Vila Brasil and Ilha Bela were established opposite the town of Camopi where the majority of the French Wayampi were concentrated. With the gold prospectors came the alcohol, prostitution and drugs. In

208-663: The 1960s attempts were made in French Guiana to group the population into two bigger villages where the Wayampi had to live with the Teko . The attempts of concentration had limited success. The Wayampi did not have tribal government, therefore a granman (paramount chief) was installed according to the Maroon hierarchy, but failed to catch on. In the 1960s, the French Government contacted all tribes to ask them whether they wanted French citizenship . The Wayampi and

234-706: The Amapari river in Brazil as far as the Tapanahoni river in Suriname . They traded cotton thread, hunting dogs and feather crowns mainly for tools. Today this network has been disrupted by the increased control of national boundaries, though it remains alive between various Wayampi groups. Since the late 1970s Western goods replaced local manufactures, with the exception of baskets and cotton-woven hammocks. Such products as ammunition, fishhooks, pans, and glass beads are increasingly traded. Notes: Wayampi language Wayãpi or Wayampi (Waiãpi, Guayapi, Oiampí)

260-586: The French colonialists. In 1738, a Jesuit mission opened on the river Oyapock near the current town of Camopi. The missionaries brought European diseases and caused a depopulation. In 1763, the Jesuits left and most of the population dispersed. From then on they became totally isolated. Reports from 1770 show a total population of 6,000, as compared with 835 in 1990. From 1820, some northern groups began making contact with French officials and Maroons , but most of

286-810: The Ndyuka granman Alabi invited a Wayana group still living along the Paru river in Brazil to join them along the Tapanahony river in Suriname, probably inspired by the arrangement with the Wayana that the Aluku had. This particular group still lives in villages along the Tapanahony and Palumeu rivers. Despite limited contacts with outsiders, imported diseases ravished the tribe in the early 20th century, and reduced

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312-468: The Wayampi continued their isolation in the Amazonian forest throughout the 18th and 19th century. The isolation was such, that only temporary canoes could be built. Only in the 1940s were the villages of French Guiana contacted by geographers; the Wayampi were in a bad shape, diseases had ravaged the community, and the population was estimated at 230 people. Two schools were built in 1956 and 1971. In

338-612: The Wayana emerged fairly recently as a distinctive group; contemporary Wayana are considered an amalgation of smaller ethnic groups such as the Upului, Opagwana, and Kukuyana. In the eighteenth century, the ancestors of the Wayana lived along the Paru and Jari rivers in contemporary Brazil, and along the upper tributaries of the Oyapock river, which nowadays forms the border between French Guiana and Brazil. The first recorded mentioning of

364-477: The Wayana leaders. As the concept of a paramount chief goes against Wayana ideas of political organisation, the authority of these chiefs beyond their own villages is often limited. In Suriname, Kananoe Apetina was made "head captain" of the Wayana on the Tapanahony river in 1937, while Janomalë was made "head captain" of the Wayana on the Lawa and Litani rivers in 1938. After the death of Janomalë in 1958, Anapaikë

390-614: The border. The late 20th and early 21st century marked the beginning of (eco)tourism, but also illegal gold mining. Along with miners came the bars, prostitution, and gambling. The Maripasoula commune is sometimes referred to as "Far West" in the mainstream French media, because of its high crime rate. Wayana society is characterized by a rather low degree of social stratification . Villages often comprise not more than one extended family and are rather loosely linked to their neighbouring villages by kinship ties, marital exchanges, shared rituals and trade. Missionaries and representatives of

416-516: The colonial authorities in return for military assistance against "incursions" from new maroon groups. From that moment on, an intensive trade relationship developed between the Wayana and the Aluku, and both tribes often living together in the same villages. In 1815, the Aluku and Wayana became blood brothers . Over time, the Wayana migrated with the Aluku further downstream the Litani and Lawa rivers to end up in their contemporary position. In 1865,

442-475: The early 21st century, the tribe started to build hamlets with subsistence farms several kilometres from the main settlements. By 2010, there were 45 hamlets, and most had left the main town of Camopi. In Brazil , as late as 1973 had FUNAI established contact with the Wayampi. Even as today the various Wayampi communities are moderately acculturated at best. In 1976 the construction of highway BR-210 passed through Wayampi territory which had limited contact to

468-521: The groups of the Amapari and upper Oyapok rivers hunting is the most important, while bow- and arrow- fishing is predominant for the northernmost group. With the exception of the Mariry community, which carries out limited exploitation of gold claims, there is little participation in the cash economy. The Wayampi were part of the great commercial link of the Wayana Indians which extended form

494-601: The native population without clear borders. In 1968 the Wayana settlements in France became part of the Grand-Santi - Papaïchton community circle of French Guiana which became separate communes a year later. Along with the commune, came a government structure, and francisation . In the late 1980s, the Surinamese Interior War stopped development on the Suriname side and many fled to the French side of

520-422: The necessity of undergoing ëputop to become a valued member of society. As a result, few ëputop ceremonies occur today. One of the more recent ëputop ceremonies took place in 2004 in the village of Talhuwen , organized by Aïmawale Opoya, grandson of Wayana leader Janomalë, in consultation with French film director Jean-Philippe Isel, who made a documentary about the ritual. In spite of its demise, ëputop

546-678: The outside world. In the 1980s the tribe attacked and construction of the highway halted and will probably never be completed. Air reconnaissance has identified two subgroups of Wayampi which are probably uncontacted . The majority of the Brazilian population lives in the Terra Indígena Waiãpi ( Wayampi Indigenous Territory ), an autonomous district with restricted access, which had been established in 1996. The Wayampi practice slash-and-burn agriculture and subsist primarily on cassava , sweet potatoes , yams , and bananas . Among

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572-646: The population to an estimated 500 to 600 people. From 1962 onward, American missionaries from the West-Indies Mission, who had previously worked with the Tiriyó , encouraged the population to concentrate in larger villages and provided access to health care, schooling, and to make it easier to convert the population. The French part of the interior used to be the Territory of Inini which allowed for an autonomous and self sufficient tribal system for

598-484: The state have only partially succeeded in grouping the Wayana together in larger settlements, and despite the fact that the Wayana are not as nomadic as before, villages are by no means permanent, and are often abandoned after the death of a leader. Villages are often led by a shaman or pïyai , who mediate Wayana contact with the world of spirits and deities, act as healers, and who are consulted in matters concerning hunting and fishing. Many Wayana villages still feature

624-673: The tribe was in 1769 across a Wayana village. By the late 18th century, the ancestors of the Wayana were involved in an almost continuous military struggle with Tupi peoples such as the Wayampi , which drove them across the Tumuk Humak Mountains to the upper tributaries of the Litani river. Around the same time, the Aluku maroons, who had fled plantations in Suriname, were driven up the Litani river by Dutch colonial forces aided by Ndyuka maroons, who had settled for peace with

650-491: Was installed as his successor, and served as the leader of the Wayana on the Surinamese side of the Lawa river until he died in 2003. Kananu Apetina died in 1975 and was succeeded by Aptuk Noewahe  [ nl ] , who was recognised by the Surinamese government as the granman of all Wayana in Suriname until his death in 2023. The current head captain on the Lawa river is Ipomadi Pelenapïn  [ nl ] , who

676-513: Was listed on the inventory of intangible cultural heritage drawn up by the French Ministry of Culture in 2011. Before contact with missionaries and state representatives, the Wayana did not recognise a form of leadership that transcended the village level. The Surinamese, French, and Brazilian states preferred to centralise their dealings with the Wayana, however, and for this purpose installed captains, head captains and granman among

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