WAIWAI INDIANS IN BRAZIL

WAIWAI MEANS TAPIOCA PEOPLE. THEN THEY MADE FRIENDS WITH THEIR PEOPLE AND THEIR NEIGHBORS. THEY ATE A LOT OF TAPIOCA. THEY INTERMARRIED WITH OTHER GROUPS. THEY ADOPTED SOME MISSIONARIES WHO MOVED IN DURING THE 1950'S. THEY ASSIMILATED MORE INTO THEIR GROUPS. THEIR NAME CAME TO INCLUDE THOSE THAT SETTLED IN THE AREA - ABOUT 7 TRIBES. THEY LEARNED THE WAIWAI LANGUAGES.

THEY LIVE IN SMALL REMOTE VILLAGES IN THE TROPICAL FORESTS STRADDLING BOTH SIDES OF THE SERRA ACARAI. THEY ORIGINATED ON THE MAPURA RIVER. BY EARLY 19TH CENTURY THEY MIGRATED NORTHWARD. THEY EXPANDED TRADE AND MARRIAGE CONTACTS. WHEN THE GUIANESE WAIWAI IN 1949 MET MISSIONARIES, THEY ALL RELOCATED NEAR THE MISSIONS. BY THE 1970'S THE MIGRATION REVERSED AND FOLKS RETURNED TO THEIR VILLAGES IN BRAZIL.

BY THE 1950'S ABOUT 200 VISITORS CAME TO THEM. BY 1989 THEY HAD 1200 PEOPLE IN 4 WAIWAI VILLAGES. THE INCREASE WAS BECAUSE OF THEIR ASSIMILATION OF NEARBY TRIBES AND LACK OF CONTACT WITH COLONISTS AND DISEASES. THE MISSIONARIES DISPENSED HEALTH CARE. THEIR BIRTH RATE IS 4% PER YEAR.

EXCHANGE OF GOODS WAS ALREADY ESTIMATED BY 1840 ACCORDING TO R.H. SCHONBURGH. ONLY OCCASIONAL EXPEDITIONS PASSED THROUGH THE REGION BEFORE THE 1950'S. THE WAIWAI POPULATION SWELLED AND MOVED NORTH TO ACCESS NEW TRADE GOODS. THEY BELIEVED A RUMOR THAT A FIRE WOULD DESTROY ALL WHO DID NOT CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY. THEY PERSUADED GROUPS TO JOIN THEM. IN THE 1970'S THE NEW INDEPENDENT GUYAMESE GOVERNMENT WAS HOSTILE TO U.S. MISSIONARIES. THEY AND MOST OF THE WAIWAI MOVED BACK TO FORMER SITES IN BRAZIL. DURING PRECONTACT TIMES 15 - 50 PEOPLE WERE IN A SINGLE HOUSE. SETTLEMENTS WERE DISPERSED IN A LARGE AREA. AND THEY MOVED EVERY FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS WHEN HOUSES BECAME OLD OR WHEN RESOURCES BECAME DEPLETED. SINCE CONTACT SETTLEMENTS HAVE UNDERGONE SEVERAL CHANGES. THE NUMBER OF HOUSES HAVE DECREASED AS MORE PEOPLE CONCENTRATE IN LARGER VILLAGES. MULTIFAMILY HOUSES HAVE BEEN REPLACED. SINCE CONTACT SETTLEMENT HAVE UNDERGONE SEVERAL CHANGES. THE NUMBER OF VILLAGES HAVE DECREASED AS MORE PEOPLE CONCENTRATE IN LARGER SETTLEMENTS. THE MULTIFAMILY MUMMO WAS REPLACED WITH SMALLER NUCLEAR FAMILY HOUSES. THE FOLKS TRAVEL FARTHER TO NEW GARDENS AND HUNTING AREAS AS THEY DEPLETE RESOURCES.

THEIR RELIGION UNIVERSE IS SAID TO HAVE FIVE TIERS: AN UNDERWORLD, THE EARTH AND THREE HEAVENS. EACH HAS DIFFERENT TIERS AND POWERS THAT THE WAIWAI TRY TO CONTROL. MANY MYTHS RECOUNT THEIR ORIGIN OF CULTURAL PRACTICES, SOCIAL GROUPS, AND NATURAL FEATURES. VARIOUS SPIRITS INHABIT THE FOREST, RIVERS, AND HEAVENS. THEY BELIEVE THESE SPIRITS, ALTHOUGH UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIAN BELIEFS, ARE CONSIDERED POSSIBLY EVIL. THE MISSIONARIES PUT SHAME IN THE WAIWAI, OVER THEIR TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. IN DOING SO MANY WAIWAI HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED.

THEIR SHAMANS WERE ABLE TO HELP SPIRITS AND USE CURING RITUALS AND SUMMON THE GAME MASTERS. PASTORS TODAY INVOKE A CHRISTA IN GOD IN MUCH THE SAME WAY. TRANSITIONS IN THE LIFE CYCLE WERE MARKED BY SECLUSION AND RITUALS. THEY HAD COLLECTIVE RITUALS AND FERTILITY SPIRITS. TODAY THEY HAVE DANCES AS WELL.

EARLIER SHAMANS CURED ILLNESS THROUGH CONTACT WITH SPIRITS BY USING TOBACCO SMOKE AND SPIRIT STONES. THE WAIWAI DO NOT HAVE AN EXTENSIVE MEDICINAL PLANT KNOWLEDGE. THEY USE WESTERN MEDICINE BY MISSIONARIES. THEIR HEALTH PROGRAM COSTA ARE LOW .

DEATH IS EXPLAINED BY AS SOUL LOSS OF SPIRITS, DISEASE. AND NEGLECT OF TABOOS. ALL PERSONAL POSSESSIONS ARE DESTROYED TO AVOID CONTACT WITH RESIDORES OF THE SOUL. THEY HAVE WAILING RITUALS. AFTER DEATH SOME PEOPLE REINCARNATE AND THE EYE OF THE SOUL TRAVELS UP TO THE FIRST HEAVEN.

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