Wenaiwika people

According to their traditional accounts, they originated from the Negro River basin, migrating through the Vaupés River before crossing the Guaviare River to reach their current territory. They belonged to a sib of the Hohódene phratry of the Curripaco, who occupied the Isana River basin. This was their place of origin, specifically the yuluatá stone in the Hípana rapids of the Aiarí River, a tributary of the Isana. They migrated from there using river and land routes through the Vaupés to the upper Guaviare, the Llanos, and the upper Orinoco.^[3]

Their economy combines agriculture with fishing and hunting. They cultivate bitter cassava, corn, beans, yams, cocoyams, sweet potatoes, peach palm, pineapple, chili, cashew, plantain, rice, and sugarcane. The processing of bitter cassava is a prominent task for women, who extract starch to make "casabe" (flatbread) and "fariña" (toasted flour), using the squeezed juice to cook "mingao", a traditional beverage.^[4][5]

Women also practice pottery. They manufacture the púali or "budare," a large griddle used for roasting cassava starch. They also make clay pots and bowls for sale. On the day a "budare" is molded, the potters must avoid bathing or drinking water to ensure the object does not deform or crack. Both men and women produce hammocks from the fibers of the cumare palm; some are for personal use, while the finer, intricately crafted ones are sold. They also produce basketry, primarily the mapíri, used for storing "fariña".^[4][5]

Bows and arrows are used for both hunting and fishing, which become particularly important during the summer. They raise chickens, pigs, and cattle.^[4][5]

Originally, they formed a "phratry" made up of exogamous patrilineal clans. The main authority figures are the parents-in-law, around whom extended families and residential units are formed. Today, in addition to respecting exogamy within each lineage, each residential unit or locality is exogamous. While maintaining marital relations among themselves, they have also established marriage alliances with the Sikuani, Curripaco, Sáliba, and Achagua. This has led to a clan system perspective that often transcends ethnic boundaries.^[6] The communities live in indigenous reservations where collective ownership is recognized by the state, often sharing these lands with communities with whom they hold marriage alliances.^[4]

Furna Minali or Kuwai made the world habitable by defeating Kemeine, a cannibalistic anaconda, whom he banished into space, transforming it into the Milky Way. Kâali duápeni brought humans out of the yuluatá stone and distributed the territory among them. Kuwai organized human society and gave each people their language. Both older men and women can be recognized as shamans after undergoing rigorous study and several trials, including periods of fasting. A highly important ritual is female initiation, also known as the "fish prayer".^[3][4][6]

The Piapoco speak an Arawakan language. Its phonology is as follows:^[7]

Vowels

Vowels become nasalized when adjacent to a nasal consonant. Stressed vowels are pronounced with a slight lengthening.

Stress is phonemic; it can fall on any syllable and changes the meaning of words. However, tone is predictable and tied to stress: it is high on the stressed syllable and very low on the following one.

Consonants

The alveolar affricate [ʦ] is in free variation with the palatal affricate [ʧ]. The labial approximant [w] is realized as a labial fricative [β] before the front vowels [i] and [e].