Indigenous peoples of Venezuela

Location of the main indigenous communities in Venezuela

The native peoples of Venezuela are groups that make up approximately 2.7% of the population. However, the Venezuelan population in general has an Amerindian contribution of between 23% and its genetic composition. and 25% of the total. There are at least 34 ethnic groups that preserved their cultures to a large extent as they were not so affected by the Spanish conquest and assimilation during the colonization era.^{[citation required]}

According to the 2011 INE census, the majority are in areas of the states of Zulia (61.2%), Amazonas (10.5%), Bolívar (7.5%), Delta Amacuro (5, 7%), Anzoátegui (4.7%), Sucre (3.1%), Monagas (2.5%) and Apure (1.6%). In addition, some of these ethnic groups are also shared with Colombia, Brazil and Guyana.

Legal situation of the indigenous peoples of Venezuela

According to the 2001 census, 33 different indigenous peoples live in Venezuela. In total there are more than 536,000 people. Indigenous peoples represent 2.3% of the Venezuelan population. Most of the indigenous peoples in Venezuela live in rural and tropical areas in the northeast of the country, especially in the Orinoco Delta, in the Bolívar state up to the border with Guyana and Brazil, in the Amazon area and in the southwest of the country in the state of Apure and the northwest of the state of Zulia.

Most of the Venezuelan indigenous population lives in environmental protection zones (Area Under Special Administration Regime - ABRAE). In general, these are national parks, forest reserves, natural monuments, protected areas, biosphere reserves, etc. Some of these areas were classified as World Heritage Sites. Among the most numerous indigenous peoples are the Piaroas, the Waraos, the Yukpas, the Yanomamis, the Barís, the Pemón, the Wayúus, the Makiritares, the Panares, the Pumés, and the Kari'ñas.

The legal situation of indigenous peoples has changed with the constitutional amendment of 1999. With the constitutional change, the integral rights of indigenous peoples are strengthened and they are given an active role in the country. Similarly, the Venezuelan Constitution recognizes the existence of indigenous peoples and communities, their social, political, and economic organization, their cultural and religious customs, their languages, and their habitat. The right to collective ownership of their land is also guaranteed. Indigenous languages are official languages for indigenous peoples and throughout the territory of the Republic they must be respected, since they represent a cultural wealth of the nation and humanity. Indigenous peoples are also granted active political participation and representation in Parliament.

The Organization of Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon (ORPIA) has been fighting since its founding in 1993 for the interests of the Venezuelan indigenous population in the Amazon. ORPIA aims to materialize the ideals of indigenous peoples to preserve their biosico-social, historical and cultural identity. Its goals consist of setting lines of action in the areas of Territory, Education, Science and Technology, Environmental Protection, Human Rights, Health in favor of well-being, progress and harmonious development of the ethnic groups of the Amazon.

Ethnic groups

Venezuelan ethnic groups

In Venezuela there are 44 aboriginal ethnic groups in total.

N.o	Name	Another name	Ethnic group	Population	Language	N.o Speakers (2011)	State
	Arahuacas - Arawak
01	Wayú	Guajiros	Arahuacos	413.437	Language Wayú	200,000	Zulia
02	Añú	Paraujanos	Arahuacos	21,000	English	17.475	Zulia
03	Wanikua	Wanicua	Arahuacos	2.815	Wanikua	2.815	Amazon
04	Kurripako	Baniwua-walimanaí	Arahuacos	7.351	Kurripako	6,000	Amazon
05	Baniva	Baniwua-wakuenaí	Arahuacos	3.501	Karu	3,000	Amazon
06	Wenaiwika	Piapoco	Arahuacos	1.333	Language	1,000	Amazon
07	Warekena	Guarequena	Arahuacos	200	Language Warekena	160	Amazon
08	Baré	Bari	Arahuacos	5,000	Language Baré	100	Amazon
	Etnias yanomami
09	Yanomam	Yaroamë	Yanomami	9.289	Language Waiká-YanomámLanguage Yanomamö	6,000 3.200	Amazon
10	Sanumá	Samatari-Chirichano	Yanomami	3.035	Language	3,000	Bolívar
11	Yanam	Yanam-Ninam	Yanomami	600	Yanam-xirian language	570	Bolívar
	Ethnia caribes-kalinagos
12	Ball	Arekuna	Caribbean	30.148	Language	30,000	Bolívar
13	Macuxi	Macusí	Caribbean	89	Language	80	Bolívar
14	Kariña	Kali`na	Caribbean	10,000	Language Kariña	4.450	Bolívar
15	Yekuana	Makiritare	Caribbean	7.753	Yekuana language	5.500	Bolívar
16	Eñepa	Panare	Caribbean	4.688	Language Panare	1,200	Bolívar
17	Yukpa	Macoitas-Irokas	Caribbean	10.424	Yukpa	7,500	Zulia
18	Japrería		Caribbean	95	Japanese language	90	Zulia
19	Akawayo	Waika-Waicá	Caribbean	6,000	Language Akawayo	5.986	Amazon
20	Yabarana	Yawarana	Caribbean	440	Yabarana language	30	Amazon
21	Mapoyo	Yahuana-Wanai	Caribbean	400	Mapoyo language	04	Amazon
22	Chaima	Guaga-tagare	Caribbean	4,000	Language Chaima	Extinct language (†)	Sucre
23	Quiriquire		Caribbean	Extint (†)	No data	Extinct language (†)	Monagas
24	Mariche		Caribbean	Extint (†)	No data	Extinct language (†)	Capital District
25	Cumanagotos	Kumanagoto	Caribbean	Extint (†)	Language Cumanagoto	Extinct language (†)	Anzoátegui
26	Chagaragotos	Guarenas	Caribbean	Extint (†)	No data	Extinct language (†)	Capital District
27	Meregos		Caribbean	Extint (†)	No data	Extinct language (†)	Capital District Aragua Carabobobo
28	Caraca		Caribbean	Extint (†)	No data	Extinct language (†)	Capital District
29	Toromaima		Caribbean	Extint (†)	No data	Extinct language (†)	Capital District
30	Tarmas		Caribbean	Extint (†)	No data	Extinct language (†)
31	Teques		Caribbean	Extint (†)	No data	Extinct language (†)
	Timoto-cuicas
32	Timoto	Timothy-timoti	Timoto-cuicas	Extint (†)	Language	Extinct language (†)	Merida
33	Cuica	Kuika	Timoto-cuicas	Extint (†)	Language	Extinct language (†)	Trujillo
	Etnia chibchas
34	Mothball	Dobocubi	Chibchas-muiscas	2.841	Language	2,000	Zulia
	Ethnia makú
35	Puinave	Wãnsöjöt	Makú	1.716	Language PuinaveLanguage	1,000 Extinct language (†)	Amazon
36	Hoti	Jodï-Joti / Chicamo Yuana / Waru-wa-ru	Makú	982	Language Hoti	900	Amazon Bolívar
	Ethnia salibanas
37	Mako-Makú	Macú-Wirö	Sáliba	2,500	Language Wirö-Itoto or Jojod	2,000	Amazon
38	Sáliba	Sáliva	Sáliba	344	Sáliba language	344	Amazon
39	Piaroas	Wötjüja-Dearwa	Sáliba	19.293	Language Piaroa-Wöthïhä tivene	10,000	Amazon
	Guahibas
40	Guahibo-Jiwi	Guahibo-Sikuani	Guahibanos	23.953	Language Sikuani-Wahibo-Hiwi	8.428	Apure Amazon
41	Cuiba	Wamonae	Guahibanos	428	Language Cuiba	400	Apure
	Ethnia jirajaranas
42	Jirajara	Xirahara-Jira	Jirajaranos	34	Language Jirajara	Extinct language (†)	Falcon
43	Ayaman	Ayoman	Jirajaranos	214	Language Ayoman	Extinct language (†)	Lara
44	Gay	Gay	Jirajaranos	1.033	Gay language	Extinct language (†)	Lara
	Etnias tupí-guaraní
45	Ñe'engatú	Yeral-Ñengatú	Tupi	2.130	Language Ñe'engatú	2,000	Amazon
	No linguistic connection
46	Waraos	Wars	Warao	36.027	Language Warao	4.066	Delta Amacuro Monagas Sucre
47	Waikerí	Guaiquerí	Waikerí	1,900	Language Waikerí	Extinct language (†)	New Sparta Sucre
48	Yaruro-Pumé	Pumé-Yarure	Yaruro	7.269	Yaruro language	4,500	Apure Guárico Bolívar
49	Sapé	Kaliana	Sapé	08	Language Sapé	01	Bolívar
50	Arutani-Uruak	Awakí-Orotani	Uruak	15	Language Arutani	02	Bolívar
51	Jukude-itse	Makú	No data	Extint (†)	Language Jukude	Extinct language (†)	Amazon

Arawak ethnic groups

By 1498 the Arawak ethnic groups were concentrated in the West and Center of what would be Venezuela, they colonized and traded with various islands of the Antilles. Today the main Arawak groups are found in Zulia (primarily the Wayúus) and in the Amazon.

Wayu

Wayu craftsmanship.

It is the largest ethnic group in Venezuela. They live in the Northwest of Zulia and in the Colombian Guajira. In general they have tried to remain independent from Colombia and Venezuela and consider themselves above all Wayúus and try to abide by their own laws.

Anu

They live in the northeast of the state (Zulia), on the shores of Lake Maracaibo. They are also known as paraujanos. In recent years there have been efforts to resurrect their language.

Wanikua

The Wanikua live in the state of Amazonas, especially along the Negro, Guainía and Casiquiare rivers. They have a high degree of acculturation. They are about 2815 people. They live in circular huts with a gabled roof made of palms, bahareque and wood or typical rural houses of Venezuela.

Baniva or kurripako

They live in Venezuela in the state of Amazonas.

Piapoco

The Piapocos live on the banks of the Orinoco in the state of Amazonas and in Colombia. They live primarily from fishing and subsistence agriculture.

Caribbean and Amazon peoples

President Rafael Caldera and his family, during a visit to the Pemona communities of Kavanayen in 1998.

Pemon

The Pemones live in the Lower, Middle, and part of the Alto Paragua in the Angostura municipality. The Pemones are South American indigenous people who inhabit the southeast area of the Bolívar state in Venezuela, on the border with Guyana and Brazil. They are the common inhabitants of the Gran Sabana and the entire Canaima National Park. It is estimated that there are about 30,000 Pemones in Venezuela (Bolívar State and Essequibo territory) and Brazil. Three main groups are distinguished:

• Taurepan: on the border between Venezuela and Brazil
• Arekuna: towards the Northwest of the Roraima and the Kavanayén valley
• Kamarakoto: west of the Karuay River, Caroní, the Paragua and Kamarata Valley

They inhabit circular or rectangular houses, with thatched roofs and adobe walls or wooden bars.

It is based on slash and burn; Bitter cassava constitutes the base of their diet. The collection of wild products, in the northwestern area, in Bajo Caroní and Bajo Paragua.

These dialects differ phonetically, grammatically, and lexically.

Kariña

The Kariña (also known as Karibe, Cariña, Galibí, Kali'na, Kalihna, Kalinya, Caribe Galibí, Maraworno or Marworno) are a Carib ethnic group, related to the Pemón. Karinya is spoken by some 4,450 people in Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil.

Panare

The panares live in the Cedeño municipality of the Bolívar state and in the north of the Amazonas state. Other names: In the ethnological literature they are called panares, but they call themselves e'ñepas.

There are two northern groups that live on the banks of lower Cuchivero, Bolívar State, in a mixed zone of jungle and savannah, and the southerner, which lives in upper Cuchivero, Bolívar State, also in a jungle area. There are supposed to be between fifteen hundred and two thousand. Panare language, of the Caribbean family. Each group has one or two communal, conical houses, which have a low tubular gallery as an entrance that prevents mosquitoes from passing through. They cut down and previously burn the land before cultivating it, to plant mainly corn, bananas and cassava. Planting and harvesting are women's tasks, while other activities are men's. They perform them as complementary subsistence activities and use bow and arrows and blowgun; arrows poison them with curare. Tools: The women make very fine basketry and textiles for daily use and barter, the men make weapons for hunting, fishing and war. When summer arrives, the community is divided into small groups by family nucleus (parents and single children) to settle in different places and return, in the winter, to the communal dwelling. They have the matrilineal system, the husband, when he gets married, becomes part of the group to which the wife belongs. The cacique has relative power, followed in importance by the sorcerer. Upon death, the person is buried with the belongings that he used while he was alive, with the exception of industrially manufactured objects obtained outside the community.

Yukpa

Yukpas

The Yukpa are an Amerindian people who live in the Perijá mountain range, on both sides of the Colombia-Venezuela border, and speak a language from the northern branch of the Caribbean language family. The settlers called them "skinheads" motilones, although this name is ambiguous and was also applied to other peoples, such as the Barí, of Chibcha origin. They have also been known by the names of chaqués, macoitas and irokas.

Chaima

The Chaimas today have disappeared as a clearly distinct ethnic group. Descendants of these Indians are strongly mixed with the rest of the Venezuelans in the area of the South of the Sucre state and the North of Monagas. Their language is already extinct, but there are some efforts to revitalize it.

Like all aboriginal peoples, they based their vision of the world on their mythemes and belief systems, inherited orally from their remote ancestors.

Culture: it was the crafts and culinary culture.

Japreria

The japrerias are a group threatened with extinction. They are in a community in the northwest of Zulia state. The Japreria are inhabitants of the Sierra de Perijá and its Piedmont. They live in the basins of four rivers that flow through the central foothills of the Sierra, in territories adjacent to those of other ethnic groups that inhabit the area.

Their language is part of the Caribbean family and is in danger of extinction. It is spoken by a small community (95 according to 2002 SIL) in the northern part of the Sierra de Perijá, in Zulia state, Venezuela. Japrería is also known as 'Yapreria'. Japreria is a language of the coastal subbranch of the Northern group of the Carib language family. Yukpa is the closest Caribbean language. They belong to the Caribbean language family. Formerly they were called "tame motilones".

For a long time they were considered as a subgroup or partiality of the Yukpa ethnic group, and that is the treatment given to them in the 1992 indigenous census. However, at present they themselves have fought, even before the competent authorities, for claiming to be a distinct ethnic group.

They live in single-room dwellings (several families), built with straw and a dirt floor. They do not use tattoos, skin piercing or any other similar practice.

Of the origins there is little information. They resisted Spanish rule, but without a fight they are descendants of the Caribbean. Deep in the Sierra de Perijá, near the headwaters of the Lajas, Socuy and Palmar rivers developed their first settlements. Like their neighbors to the south, the Baris, the people of Japreria spent a long time interned in the heart of the jungle and it took more than two centuries for only a few versions, not very precise, to be known about their existence, their custom and culture.

As for its location, it is very remote, it has been very complex, in colonial times it was difficult for the Spanish to find this town that was never characterized by having a large population. Between 1492 and 1690, the colonists and the evangelizing missions that arrived in western Venezuela did not know of the existence of these indigenous people.

The social organization and geographic location and physical features of the Japreria have helped establish relationships between these peoples. Among the investigations there has been that of the Japreria language and an element that has ruled out several theories about the origin of this ethnic group and its affiliation to another town. According to Prof. Luis Oquendo, in a research work from the University of Zulia (2004) they denied the affiliation between the Japrerias and the Yukpas, since they differ by their social organization and their language. In his essay Vibrant Uvular and the Tooth Lip Approximant of the Japreria Language as Phonological Culture, Oquendo cites reports from the Ministry of Education in 1986 that all Yukpa speakers understand each other except for a small group called Japreria, and reverses that theory by proving that there are differences. between the Yukpa and the Japreria, which shows that they are not the same people, since each developed their own system of oral expression, with different meanings and symbolic representations. According to Oquendo, the natives of this ethnic group are breeders of cattle and goats for self-consumption. They are not engaged in basketry or crafts. According to Emilio Monsoyi, they say that the Japreria and the Yukpa are different peoples with different languages, both coming from the Caribe family.

Referring, in the book of the Bari/ Japreria indigenous peoples, that the Japreria ethnic group was submerged in the waters of a dam, these floods planned by the Creoles, turned them into a wandering people at the end of the century XX and beginning of the XXI century. The great flood that wipes out all living beings is not for the Japreria people an event of remote time. The dam, a monumental work to house 190,000 m³ of water, means a great step for the region since it guarantees water throughout the year. But the successive attacks of the waters of the Palmar and Laja rivers force the Japreria people to emigrate in search of a new settlement site, since they live on the banks of the rivers.

Regarding the legal framework today, it refers to the rights of indigenous communities, including the insertion of the Bolivarian Constitution of Venezuela. From an article that establishes that all activities likely to cause damage to ecosystems must be previously monitored. By reference to the book, he says that the agricultural products to which the Japreria culture gives the most importance are cassava, tobacco and banana. Among the proteins that make up their diet are monkeys, curassows and limpets.

From the exchange with the Creole culture, the Japreria have learned to raise cattle for consumption and sale. They have also modified the structure of their traditional home and the existence of homes that respond to the Creole concept of it is recorded, that is, there is a transculturation. The linguistic isolation of the Japreria, coupled with their geographical isolation, since they have inhabited remote areas of the Perijá mountain range. Little contact is recorded due to their difficult access to rural areas. The language of the Japreria with Caribbean roots and used only by them, was a key element for them to have been recognized as a people with their own identity, independent of another group of indigenous people with whom they were usually associated. All the natives of the Japreria culture know and use their original language, a high percentage of them know and use Spanish. Rita González, filmmaker, says that Sáapreye…hijos de caña brava narrates the experiences of one of the five ethnic groups originating from Zulia state. Sáapreye, in their language, called Japreria by the Creoles, is an ethnic group with a high percentage of miscegenation and loss of its own cultural values. Today a small group with only 71 families make up the community. Few of the Sáapreye indigenous people are pure, they have mixed and are unaware of their customs despite staying within their own territory. The Sáapreye were enslaved by other indigenous peoples, displaced by settlers due to the value of their land, and persecuted by Capuchins to convert them to Catholicism. Mama Shuta, a wise old woman, pure Sáapreye, over 101 years old, is one of the guardians of the history of the Sáapreye indigenous people. She is responsible for treasuring the ethnic essence of this community. Mama Shuta's eyes tell us the story of the Sáapreye…sons of the wild cane, a story of aggression and persecution from more than 400 years ago. We will learn how the rapprochement with other ethnic groups and cultures isolates the Sáapreye from their own identity; losing part of the ancestral essence deposited in their culture. The nusáa (white people), as they identify the Creoles, have entered an original space of the Sáapreyes brothers, causing a change and deviation from their customs, thus interfering in their thoughts, voices and actions, which for decades have characterized indigenous peoples as roots of Venezuelanness. Sáapreye…hijos de la caña brava is a documentary that seeks to get to know this indigenous people who are condemned to ethnic vanishing, the idea is focused on raising awareness of the outbursts experienced during the imposition of a much more dominant culture, the culture western.

Parasitic diseases represent a medical, economic and social problem, affecting all social classes, but mainly the lowest socioeconomic strata. To determine the prevalence of enteroparasites in the Japrería indigenous community, located in the Sierra de Perijá, Zulia State, Venezuela, 191 fecal samples corresponding to individuals of both sexes aged between 1 month and 86 years were processed. The samples were analyzed through the direct coproparasitological methods and the formaldehyde-ether concentration technique. A high prevalence of enteroparasites (82.20%) and a predominance of polyparasitism (78.98%) were found, with associations between commensal and pathogenic species. No significant difference in susceptibility was observed between parasite prevalence and sex (p>0.05). Regarding the age group, the most affected stratum turned out to be that of young adults (20-39 years; 25.48%). The most common protozoan species were Blastocystis hominis (46.07%), Entamoeba coli (42.93%) and the Entamoeba histolytica complex. /Entamoeba dispar (34.03%). Among the helminths, Ancylostomideos (30.89%), Ascaris lumbricoides (9.95%) and Hymenolepis nana (4.19%) occupied the first places. The increased presence of enteroparasites is related to the poor environmental sanitation in this indigenous community, so the results support the importance of designing specific control programs to reduce the conditioning factors present, which would have an impact on the decrease of parasitic infections.

Maquiritare or Yekuana

The Yekuanas are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Caribbean group. They live primarily in the Northeast of Amazonas State and the Southwest of Bolívar State.

Akawayo

They are a South American indigenous people of the Carib family. There are about 6,000 people distributed between Guyana, Venezuela and Brazil.

Yabarana

The Yabarana indigenous peoples in Venezuela were the most numerous of the Ventuari in the Manapiare municipality of the Amazonas State, currently it is one of the indigenous peoples with a population divided into five mixed communities that is at risk of disappearance.

Mapoyo

This ethnic group is located in the Autonomous Municipality of Cedeño, in Bolívar State. On November 25, 2014, it was included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, in the urgent safeguard list and is the first Venezuelan indigenous language declared by UNESCO.

They are a Caribbean people who originally came from the north-eastern zone of Venezuela, but were displaced from their area because of the Spanish colonization in America, today they exist, but being a league of Yanomamis and Waikas, those who Waikas are still kept, they are few and scattered in Bolívar State, Venezuela.

Yanomami peoples

The Yanomami peoples are found primarily in the eastern and southern parts of the state of Amazonas and in the southwest of the state of Bolívar. They have been one of the groups that maintained a greater isolation with respect to Westerners. In recent decades they have suffered especially from the penetration of illegal miners, traffickers and other foreign groups.

Yanomami

The Yanomami inhabit an area between Venezuela and Brazil. They began to expand in the late VI century into Maquiritar territory, but have suffered in recent decades from population pressure from Creoles in their territory.

Shabono, Yanomami housing.

Sanema

Young people from the healthy ethnic group.

This group lives primarily in the Bolívar state of Venezuela, as well as on the border with Brazil.

Chibcha ethnic group

They are mostly located in Zulia State.^{[citation required]}

Bari

The Barís are found in Zulia on the border with Colombia, opposite the town of Machiques.

Makus ethnic groups

Puinave

The Puinave are an Amerindian people who live in scattered villages in the Inírida river basin in the Guainía department and eastern Guaviare department, east of Colombia and the borders with this country of Venezuela and Brazil. They occupy a transitional zone between the Amazon jungle and the Llanos de la Orinoquia.

Hoti

They live in the Venezuelan Amazon. Its territory is located in the southwest of the Bolívar state, Kaima river, tributary of the Cuchivero, Cedeño municipality, in the Ascensión Farreras parish, where there are 12 Hoti communities; and to the north of Amazonas state, Atures municipality, where there are 14 communities in the area of Caño Iguana, a tributary of Asita, to the west of the Serranía de Uasadi, and on the Parucito river.

Tupi ethnic groups

Saliva ethnic groups

Mac

It is an indigenous people.

Saliva

The Saliva are a people who have their territory between Colombia and Venezuela. In Venezuela they live primarily in the state of Amazonas. Alexander von Humboldt described them in his Voyages to the Equinoctial Regions.

The Sáliba Nation, in Colombia, is located in the Orinoquia region, in the eastern end on the banks of the Meta River, mainly in the department of Casanare in the indigenous reservation of Caño Mochuelo in the municipality of Hato Corozal; and in the municipality of Orocué. In the department of Vichada they are located in the Resguardo de Santa Rosalía, municipality of Santa Rosalía.

Wottuja-Piaroa

The population of piaroas is estimated at around 12,000 people. They live primarily on the banks of the Orinoco, Cedeño Autonomous Municipality of Bolívar state and also in the Amazonas state between Venezuela and Colombia. The etymology of the word 'piaroa' it is still debatable. The group calls itself wottuja or wottoja, which means peaceful and calm people.

Guahiba ethnic groups

Cave

The Cuiva people belong to the Guajiba linguistic family, which calls itself Jivi (people) in Venezuelan territory and Jivi Wamone (family people) in Colombian territory. They inhabit the bordering savannahs between Venezuela and Colombia. In Venezuela they are located to the southwest of the llanera region of Apure state, specifically on the right bank of the upper Capanaparo, approximately 30 kilometers from the town of Elorza, in the settlements known as Barranco Yopal and El Paso, from where they constantly move. resorting to the installation of temporary camps located between the region between the Capanaparo, Riecito, Meta, Cinaruco, Caribe, and Arauca rivers and the town of Elorza (Coopens, 1975; Hurtado & Hill, 1987).

In Colombian territory, the Cuiva are located in the northeast of the llanera region, in the Caño Mochuelo reservation, located in the department of Casanare, where they live with members of other indigenous groups of the same Guajibo family, including the Amorua, Sikauni and Yamaleros. The Guahiba linguistic family is made up of various linguistic subgroups that include the Sikuani, Cuiva, Yamalero or Guahibo beach. Maciguare, Macaguan Amorua and Sirupus. Traditionally, the Cuiva use the indigenous house located in Cravo Norte, in the department of Arauca, as temporary housing and maintain temporary camps in areas adjacent to the Casanare river, Ariporo river and Meta river (Coopens, 1975; Hurtado & Hill, 1987; Sumabila 1985, 2005).

Cuiva cosmology explains the world from three superimposed horizons that reflect their real world: a low level (water), a medium level (earth), and a high level (sky, clouds). In each horizon or level the life of the Cuiva is possible, since they are achieved in these, a savannah environment and a river environment (sandbanks) with elements of flora and fauna, typical of the plain. The Cave of the "other world" does not include any place other than the realm of "heaven, abundance and happiness", such as purgatory or hell could be for Catholics. They refer to their origin and their territory -together with that of some neighboring indigenous peoples- as a specific geographical place coming from under the earth and where a group of them live far from the place where they originated, pressured by migration and the presence of Creoles in their territory (Sumabila 1985, 2005).

Although the Cuiva, like the Pumé, have been affected by Creole expansion and various poorly implemented government programs, until now, they have remained hunters and gatherers. In 2001 the Cuiva population reached 1050 people, 450 in Venezuelan territory and 600 in Colombia. The demographic growth of this ethnic group has been affected in the last 30 years by a series of diseases associated with the new living conditions imposed through the forced sedentary process to which they have been subjected (Coopens, 1975; Hurtado & Hill, 1987; INE, 2001; Sumabila 1985, 2005). Likewise, these factors have influenced part of its population to work as agricultural labor in Creole herds, becoming part of a population in poverty in rural areas, which has resulted in the deterioration of their quality of life (Hurtado & Hill, 1987; Sumabila 1985, 2005).

The situation of persecution and racism suffered by the Cuiva for decades by part of the Creole population is well known, sustained by an unfortunate interest in the lands occupied ancestrally by this indigenous people, together with the Pumé (Yaruro) and the Jivi (Guajibo). There are frequent testimonies that narrate how the Cuiva, in the past two centuries, were the object of massacres carried out by settlers, an activity known as Guajibear or Cuivear (hunting Guajibos or Cuivas) and common for a long time in this area. Sadly famous was the massacre of the Cuiva people that occurred in the ranch of La Rubiera in 1967, later they continued to be massacred by the owners of ranches and Creole laborers, without the local and national authorities flinching at this fact (Mosonyi & Jackson, 1990; Sumabila, 2005).

Ethnic groups with no known linguistic connection

There are various peoples whose languages are classified as isolates because they are not related to any other known language.

Waraos

Women waraos from the municipality Antonio Díaz show typical cestry of their region.

The Waraos are, after the Wayúus, the second largest ethnic group in Venezuela. They inhabit primarily the Orinoco Delta and nearby areas on the coast. They are experts in the use of canoes. They are very well adapted to life in mangroves. Humboldt recounted that the Guaiqueríes of Margarita said that their ancestors spoke a form of Warao.

Waikeri

They inhabit the island of Margarita, the island of Coche, and the coasts of what is now Sucre. They were designated vassals of the King during the colonial era, with property and inheritance rights. They are also known as "Guaikeri", and that name identifies the Nueva Esparta State Basketball team.

Pumé

The Yaruro or Pumé live on the banks of the Orinoco and its tributaries, above all in the center and east of Apure state. Their number is estimated at about 5500 individuals.

Sapé

In 2008, a few elderly Sapé were found. Sapé is one of the most poorly attested extant languages in South America, and may be a language isolate. Today, however, there is no linguistic data on the language. They can also be told that they are a Guajiro indigenous group from the Bolívar state.

Uruak

The uruak, arutani (other names: aoaqui, auake, auaqué, awake, oewaku, orotani, urutani)

They live in the area of Roraima and borders with Brazil. There are only a couple dozen of them. Most have mixed with the Pemonas or Nianames ethnic groups.

Jirajaras peoples

Jirajara

They lived in Siquisique, Baragua, the southern slopes of Barquisimeto and Yacambu; Sabana de Guache, Cerro Blanco, El Degredo and the vicinity of Sanare. They were farmers, artisans and hunters. Its social structure was made up of cacicazgos, council of elders and the tribe. Its political structure was made up of the cacique, the shaman and the tribe. As far as cultural manifestations were polytheistic. The jirajaranas or jirajiranas languages are a group of extinct languages that were spoken in western Venezuela, in the regions of Falcón and Lara. All languages are believed to have become extinct in the early 20th century century.

History

The following archaeological periods are mentioned:

• Paleoindium period 15000 a. C.-5000 a. C.
• Mesoindium period: 5000 a. C.-1000 a. C.
• Neo-Indian period: 1000 a. C.-1498
• Indohispanic period: from 1499 to present.

Prehistory

The territory currently known as Venezuela was already inhabited more than 10 millennia ago.

Around the first millennium AD, migrations from the Orinoco, perhaps via the El Pao, began to reach the Lake Tacarigua area.

The first encounter between European conquerors and indigenous people occurred in 1498.

Colonial period

Conquest of Venezuela

Very common palafitos in the Zulia area (Sinamaica lake) and the Orinoco Delta

According to one hypothesis, the first sight of the stilt houses in the Sinamaica lagoon in 1498 would have given Europeans the inspiration to call those lands "Venezuela", and Little Venice.

Ambrosius Ehinger (or Alfinger), conqueror of the house of Welser, left Coro in August 1529 for Lake Maracaibo. There he fights against the Coquibacoas and founds Maracaibo.

In the first decades of the XVI century, the Europeans forced the indigenous people of the Margarita area to dive into the sea to extract pearls The friar Bartolomé de las Casas writes:

They forced the indigenous to draw pearls in the most cruel way... There's no worse infernal supposition that can be compared... They put them in the sea to five hondo braces from the morning to the sun. If they try to rest they stab them. In a few days they die bleeding from the mouth or devour sharks. Most preferred to die drowned before continuing the supposition... A boat can travel from this island to the Spanish, guided only by the stoned Indian bodies that float in the sea

Bartolomé de las Casas

In Venezuela, parcels are established very early.

When the Europeans arrive in the area of Coro, they find the Arawak group of the Caquetíos there. The German explorer Nicolás Federmann of the Welser house of Augsburg left Coro on September 12, 1530 on an expedition to the South and passed through the territories of the Jirajaras, Ayamanes and Guayones.

The Spanish discovered gold around Los Teques in 1559 and decided to populate the area from there. From 1560 to 1570, a series of battles between Europeans and indigenous people took place that led to the submission of the First Nations.

The historian Oviedo y Baños narrates that Carib Indians attacked the city of Valencia and nearby areas for many decades.

17th century

Around 1620, when Quíbor was founded, the inhabitants of the area were primarily people from the Gayones, Ajaguas, Camagos, Coyones, Caquetíos and Jirajaras ethnic groups.

In the second half of the XVII century century, European colonizers began to displace the Indians who inhabited what is today in day south of Valencia. Some of these founded the town of San Diego.

From 1558 to 1628, the Nirguas and Jirajaras Indians resisted the settlers who were establishing themselves in what is today Bejuma and Montalbán, west of Valencia.

Nueva Andalucía in 1653.

Father Francisco de Pamplona began to integrate the Chaima Indians into the colony from the middle of the XVII century.

In 1681 and 1697, free Carib Indians organized attacks on the Catholic missions of Chaima towns.

The conquest produced significant changes in the social, economic, religious, cultural and political structure of the aborigines. Many of the groups that inhabited this territory upon the arrival of the Europeans, lost their independence, being subjected as slaves or vassals of the crown. Most of these indigenous people perished as a consequence of wars, forced labor and disease. Others fled to inaccessible regions beyond the reach of the conquerors, occupying some jungle areas.^{[citation needed]} On the other hand, these indigenous peoples gradually disappeared as an ethnic group at the beginning of the process of miscegenation with Spaniards and blacks.

18th and 19th centuries

Catholic missionaries and conquistadors began to penetrate the regions south of the Orinoco River first of all from the 18th century, when first the Jesuits and then the Capuchins established missions along the Orinoco and in Guyana.

The Carib Indians resisted until the beginning of the second half of the 18th century.

In 1720 there was a new series of attacks by free Caribs on missions in Nueva Andalusía.

Between 1799 and 1800 Alexander von Humboldt made numerous observations about the indigenous peoples of Venezuela, observations that are reflected in his Journeys to the Equinoctial Regions. Humboldt refers that in the area of the Aragua valleys there were still about 5000 in the 1800s registered indigenous people and that the majority is concentrated in Turmero and Guacara. They no longer speak their ancestral languages. The majority of the population in that region is mestizo.

Alexander von Humboldt calculates that of a million inhabitants that the captaincy of Venezuela had, barely a ninth part were pure Indian.

20th and 21st centuries

Since the XX century, Venezuelan ethnic groups have been particularly affected by the penetration of illegal miners into their territory, the continued occupation of their lands and the presence of guerrilla and paramilitary groups.

According to Esteban Emilio Monsonyi, the Ottomans disappeared as a distinguishable ethnic group in the early 20th century.

The 1999 Constitution establishes that indigenous languages are co-official languages of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The same constitution establishes that indigenous peoples will have a reserved number of 3 representatives in the National Assembly of Venezuela.

In recent decades, efforts have been made to teach literacy to various indigenous ethnic groups. Various ethnologists and linguists have worked on the preparation of literacy books and the production of dictionaries for indigenous communities and for scholars of these languages.

Indigenous lands

Indigenous people have been asking for the demarcation of protected indigenous territories for a long time, but until now this demand has not been met. It was not until 2009 that the government handed over title deeds to indigenous Yukpas for 41,600 hectares in Zulia for 3 communities of 500 people. This still does not resolve the determination of the territory for the community itself, which is made up of 10,000 indigenous people.

Current situation

The situation of many indigenous people is precarious. Extreme poverty and high mortality, as well as penetration of their traditional areas by foreign groups, as well as mining, seem to lead to the disappearance of various ethnic groups, especially those from the Amazon. Many groups have assimilated into the mestizo population, such as the Wayúu, who, although partially integrated into the social system, maintain their condition of misery. Many know Spanish to be able to communicate with the rest of the population.

The 1999 constitution in its chapter VIII "On the Rights of indigenous peoples" (articles from 119 to 126) has given rights to this group for the first time, although the aborigines of the Venezuelan lands have not been able to fully put their rights into practice due to the survival of a class-based social system inherited from the Spanish colonial era..

Their cultures are basically based on agriculture, hunting, fishing and gathering.