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Kuwe Duwakalumi: The Arawak Sacred Routes of Migration,
Trade,and Resistance
Vidal, Silvia M.
Ethnohistory, Volume 47, Number 3-4, Summer-Fall 2000, pp.
635-667(Article)
Published by Duke University Press
For additional information about this article
Access Provided by CNRS BiblioSHS at 06/04/12 8:04PM GMT
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Kuw Duwkalumi: The Arawak Sacred Routesof Migration, Trade, and
Resistance
Silvia M. Vidal, Instituto Venezolano deInvestigaciones
Cientficas
Abstract. Kuw or Kwai is a powerful cultural hero among the
Arawak of theNorthwest Amazon. This article analyzes Kuw teachings
and sacred routes aspolitical, religious, migratory, and trade
strategies of resistance. These routes wereused by the Warekena and
the Bar Indians to resist the colonial and postcolonialencroachment
on their ancestral territories during the eighteenth century.
This article analyzes Kuw Duwkalumi, or Kuw teachings and
sacredroutes, as political, religious, migratory, and trade
strategies of resistance.During the eighteenth century these
strategies were used by powerful In-dian warrior-shaman chiefs and
their followers to evade or challenge theEuropean colonial system.
At this time the ancestors of the contempo-rary Warekena and Bar
Indians were organized into different multiethnicconfederacies,
such as the Demanao, Madwaka, Marabitana, Guaypu-navi,
Umasevitauna, and Darivazauna.1 The European documents
describethese powerful Arawakan-speaking groups as associated with
each otherthrough trading networks, Indian rebellions, and sacred
places. By thenineteenth century several Arawakan-and
Tukanoan-speaking groups fromthe Northwest Amazon were active
participants in different millenarianmovements whose leaders and
members were also using Kuw routes asa strategy to survive the
processes of exploitation and deprivation result-ing from the
rubber boom (Hill and Wright ; Vidal and Zucchi ;Wright and Hill ).
In the last three decades of the twentieth century,contemporary
Warekena and Bar still traveled by Kuw Duwkalumi toregain their
economic, political, and cultural rights.
Kuw teachings and sacred routes are important aspects of the
religion
Ethnohistory : (summerfall )Copyright by the American Society
for Ethnohistory.
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Silvia M. Vidal
of Kuw or Kwai. This religious system embraces a hierarchical
socio-political organization, a map (or imagery) of sacred routes
and places,and a corpus of narratives that encompasses ritual,
geographical, ecologi-cal, botanical, and zoological knowledge.2Kuw
has served the Arawakan-speaking peoples (more specifically,
theWarekena and Bar) as a model ofand for society and their
geopolitical and interethnic relations on whichthey have built
their strategies of resistance. In short, Kuw Duwkalumihave served
as a means to participate in as well as to evade and challengethe
colonial (and postcolonial) dominion.
As strategies of resistance, Kuw Duwkalumi directly challenge
twoimportant ideas of the European (Western) cultural tradition and
knowl-edge: those of time (history) and space/place
(geography/cartography). Tounderstand the strategies used by the
Warekena and Bar forebears, I havethus oriented my analysis into
two interconnected fields: () the confron-tation and dialogue among
European and Indian ways of constructing andinterpreting the past,
and () the imposition and institutionalization of Eu-ropean
cartography on Amerindian geographical and geopolitical knowl-edge.
I have also theoretically based this article on new anthropological
in-terpretations of the role of culture, myth, history, and
place/space (Asad; Bonfil Batalla; Cohn; Comaroff and Comaroff;
Fried-man ; Gupta and Ferguson ; Hill ; Rosaldo ; Sahlins,;
Turnerb;White;Whiteheada,;Wolf).3
Recent ethnological and ethnohistorical studies of native
Northwest Ama-zon and other South American regions have also been
considered (Arvelo-Jimnez and Biord Castillo ; Arvelo-Jimnez et al.
; Chernela; Gonzlez ez ; Hill ; C. Hugh-Jones ; S. Hugh-Jones ;
Jackson ; Morales and Arvelo-Jimnez ; Morey ;Reichel-Dolmatoff ;
Roosevelt ; Whitehead , ; Wright).4 Finally, current ethnographical
and historical findings obtainedfrom research conducted by
someWarekena, Baniva, Kurripako, Bar, andYeral Indians (native
ethnography) have also been considered.5
To analyze Kuw Duwkalumi as an Indian mode of constructing
thepast, I have adopted a shamanic or shamanistic way to
reconstruct andinterpret Northwest Amazon history (Hill c).
According to NicholasThomas and Caroline Humphrey (: ), the
anthropological literatureon shamanism is heavily biased toward
curing, trance, and medical as-pects, toward characterization of
what are supposedly general symbolsor ecstatic techniques, and
toward the shaman as a singular ritual practi-tioner. Thus, they
propose to view shamans as political actors or media-tors of
historically constituted social contradictions and resistances
(ibid.:).To the Arawak shamans and other ritual specialists, Kuw
Duwkalmi
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The Arawak Sacred Routes
are not only strategies to confront unequal and hierarchical
power relation-ships within colonial and postcolonial systems, but
they are also a model ofindigenous ways for constructing and
interpreting myth, history, culture,and place.
The shamanic way also constitutes a powerful model for
theArawakan-speaking peoples for constructing and interpreting
ethnic andpolitical identities. According to Jonathan D. Hill (c),
the shamanicway is a mode of political history that forms part of
the process of con-structing political communities. In the colonial
and postcolonial processesthe confrontation between the shamanic
and the national (official) pro-duction/construction of their own
respective history created new arenas ofstruggles for Indian
peoples to protect, create, or rebuild new cultural andpolitical
spaces within the colonial and national states. Because the
Indianswere not passive or mute victims in these processes,
anthropologists andother social scientists need to change the
concept of culture to one that in-cludes the idea that the Indian
peoples have no choice but to create newidentities . . . [or]
resisting identities; that is, they have to struggle to re-assert
their place in history (Hill c: ).
Since the s new anthropological interpretations have
stronglyquestioned static, reductive, and essentialist portrayals
of culture, history,myth, and society and have reconfigured these
categories in ways far dif-ferent from Eurocentric conceptions.
Alternative ways of theorizing thepast now seek to integrate
archaeological and ethnological data andwrittenhistorical records
with indigenous interpretive models of history. Further-more, myth
and history are viewed as dynamic partners for the
historicalinterpretation of Indians past or as modes of historical
consciousness forindigenous peoples in their struggles with and
survival within nation-states(Hill , ; Rosaldo ; Sahlins ; Turner
a).6
The eighteenth century was a period in which the Spanish and
Por-tuguese Crowns were devoted to systematic explorations of their
colonialterritories as well as the demarcation and control of their
overseas posses-sions. This process meant sending civil and
military explorers to differentregions, elaborating maps and
inventories of natural resources, expellingforeign intruders, and
using Indian groups and territories as markers ofthe extension of
their colonial sovereignties. During this century the Amer-indian
cartography was replaced by the colonial geography that
becameofficial; in this way the European space-territorial pattern
was implanted.The alien pattern divided Amerindian South America
into colonial statesand European municipalities, villages, and
parishes. This colonial cartog-raphy and European pattern has been
used since as a space-territorialand political model for the
creation and delimitation of Latin American
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Silvia M. Vidal
nation-states. In other words colonialism and postcolonialism
represent,to the Indian populations of lowland South America, the
compulsory dis-placement and substitution of their
spatio-geographical and geopoliticalknowledge of their own
interconnections by European spatial distributionsand hierarchies
of power.
To the Arawak shamans and other ritual specialists, Kuw
Duwka-lmi represent their model of constructing and interpreting
geography andplace.The anthropological literature on shamanism has
also stressed the as-sociation between shamans techniques of
ecstasy and mystical geography(Eliade : ). Similarly, other
anthropological approaches have criti-cized the naturalized
associations of culture, people, and place, especiallywithin
hierarchical and unequal power relationships (Gupta and Ferguson);
they have opened up alternative studies in search of
nonimperialgeohistorical categories (Coronil). Jonathan Boyarin (:
), for ex-ample, mentions that social scientists deliberations
usually proceed as ifculture and society were played out within a
Cartesian world. This isthe result of the close genealogical
connection that links Cartesian (ratio-nal) categories of space
(and time) in the European cultural tradition; thisconnection means
close relationships between mapping, boundary setting,inclusion,
and exclusion of places and peoples (ibid.). In addition,
AkhilGupta and James Ferguson (: ) suggest that the presumption
thatspaces are autonomous has enabled the power of topography
successfullyto conceal the topography of power.
According to Walter Mignolo (: , ), the move towardcolonization
and reconfiguration of space (European cartography) in thecolonial
process introduced a double perspective. It produced, on the
onehand, the dissociation between a center determined ethnically
and a cen-ter determined geometrically that complements the ethnic
one; and, on theother hand, the assumption that the locus of
observation (geometric cen-ter) does not disrupt or interfere with
the locus of the enunciation (ethniccenter). Mignolo (ibid.: ) also
suggests that the power of the centerdoes not depend necessarily on
the geometric rationalization but . . . [is]enacted around the
power of the ethnic center.
Amerindian and Western geographical imaginaries and their
confron-tations are central to the understanding of the historical
processes in build-ing dominant global cartographies. For Michael
J. Shapiro (: ix) theseconfrontations produce the
institutionalization of the dominant colonial ornation-state
geographical imaginary over Amerindian cartographic knowl-edge.
This institutionalization includes the mapping of spatial and
geo-graphical contexts within which dominant powers and strong
politicaldecision makers calculated, made choices, and gave
meanings to spatial
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The Arawak Sacred Routes
distribution and economic exploitation of colonized peoples.
This processalso ignores the important contribution of colonized
peoples to Europeancartography of the Americas. In this sense this
article represents an effortto reconstruct the Arawakan-speaking
groups cartography as well as theirgeohistorical, geopolitical, and
georeligious imaginaries and knowledge.
Current ethnographical and historical research conducted by
someArawakan-speaking groups have strongly influenced my analysis
of themyths and oral history of the contemporaryWarekena and
Bar.Their find-ings and my analysis were combined with European
written records to ex-amine Kuw Duwkalumi. To contemporary
Arawakan-speaking groups,these strategies were used by their
ancestors to resist European and Euro-criollo encroachments on
their lands.
Ethnographical Background of theContemporary Warekena and
Bar
The contemporary Warekena and Bar inhabit several townships of
theUpper GuainaNegro region in the Venezuelan Amazon (Figure ).
Thereare about six hundred Warekenas and two thousand Bars in
Venezuela,but they are integrated into a macroregional
sociopolitical system withsome other forty thousand Tukanoans,
Makuans, and Arawaks living inVenezuela, Colombia, and Brazil. This
system is characterized by extensivemultilingualism and exogamy
(Wright ; Jackson ; Hill , ;Chernela ; Vidal ).
The Warekena and Bar groups have an internally hierarchical
socio-political structure that is organized in several patrilineal,
localized, andexogamic phratries, each consisting of two or more
sibs ranked accord-ing to the birth order of the ancestral mythic
brothers. The practice ofexogamy allows Arawakan-speaking groups
and subgroups to associatewith each other and other societies.
Hierarchy is not only the criterion bywhich to classify people and
place them in a given status; it also influencesintra- and
intergroups alliances and plays an important role in
processesandmechanisms of ethnogenesis and social reproduction.
Each phratry andsib are identified with a specific area within its
groups territory. Localizedphratries and sib exercise political and
economic control over the rivers,sacred places, and natural
resources of their territories. However, this terri-torial control
can be negotiated through economic bargaining and
politicalalliances among phratries and groups.
This sociopolitical structure is grounded on both an extensive
net-work of political relations with other peoples and the shared
Kuw reli-gious system, which is divided into mythical cycles. Each
cycle consists of
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Silvia M. Vidal
Figure . Map of Territories and Townships of the Bar, Warekena,
and Other Arawakan-Speaking Groups in the Venezuelan Amazon.
Source: Vidal field notes , , .
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The Arawak Sacred Routes
a corpus of narratives (stories, myths, chants, songs, prayers,
advice, etc.),ritual knowledge, puberty rites, and festivals and
comprises a wide varietyof ideological-symbolic and practical
codes. These codes teach importantknowledge that has been
associated with Kuw or Kwai and the Trick-ster Creator (Npirrkuli
or Npiruli). In short, these codes have influencedand oriented
Indian peoples strategies to face events and situations of
theirritual and secular lives.
In this manner both the historical interpretation and the mythic
repre-sentation of the world, natural beings, society, and
humankind are closelyrelated to theWarekena and Bars system of
ancient beliefs. Mythic narra-tives and oral history are thus two
complementary genres that influence oneanother; through these
methods people narrate, tell, and interprete theirhistorical
processes of change.7 According to the Warekena and the Bar,Kuw or
Kwai is the voice of the creation that opened up the world.8 Heis
the monstrous, primordial human being (Hill : xvii), master of
allvisible and invisible beings (Wright ), and capable of
controlling thesky and the universe through his powerful knowledge.
Most of all, how-ever, he came to this world to teach people all of
his sacred ritual powers.These powers or Kuw teachings are secretly
learned by men during ini-tiation or puberty rites. Robin M.Wright
(: ,) thus calls it the cultof the sacred flutes and trumpets . . .
representing the first ancestors of thephratries.
Kuws cult is associated with a hierarchical political and
religiousorganization known as secret male societies that represent
Kuw andhis troops. The society includes chiefs, masters (ritual
specialist), war-riors, shamans, and servants. The relationship
between secret male soci-eties and the idea of Kuw and his troops
is based on the associationthat the Arawakan-speaking groups
established between the mythic orfirst ancestors (the inpe mik nwi,
such as Kuw, Npiruli, Purnamnali,and Dzli) and the living elders or
pjnawji.9 The Kuw religion is also alink to collective death and
rebirth, world destruction and renewal. Hill(: ) states that the
cult of Kuwi and of the ancestor spirits hascontinued to serve the
Wakunai [another Arawak group] as a power re-source for negotiating
interethnic relations along the lower Guaina Riverin Venezuela.
Myths and Oral History of theContemporary Warekena and Bar
TheWarekena and the Bar sharewith other Arawakan-speaking groups
ofthe Northwest Amazon the Kuw or Kwai cult and some other
important
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Silvia M. Vidal
aspects of their mythologies and religious systems (Hill , ,
b;Hill andWright; Vidal,; Wright,; Wright and Hill).10 Yet there
are also some differences that Wright (: ) has in-terpreted as
variants of a single and complex tradition because they differin
ways that are more than a simply question of local context and
detail.Despite the differences, the similarities are interpreted by
the contempo-rary Warekena and Bar not only as evidence to prove
the validity of theirancient oral traditions, but also of their
shared origins. They consider thateach Arawakan-speaking group has
kept an important and valuable partof this ancient knowledge that
is continually used to reconstruct their his-tories and
societies.
The mythohistorical and ritual narratives of the Warekena and
theBar can be separated into three cycles (or sets of narratives)
that outline acomplex process of ethno- and cosmogenesis.11 Some of
them are linguis-tically a mixture of Warekena and Bar languages;
this speaks for theirclose historical and ritual relationships,
which, according to their oral tra-ditions, began at an initiation
festival celebrated by the two groups andother Indian peoples at
the Casiquiare River. The first cycle of narrativesbegins at Hpana,
an ancient community located in the Ayar River and themythical
place of the beginning of the world. Its principal characters
areNpiruli, Amruyawa (primordial woman), the first Kuw, and a group
ofhuman-animal beings. Npiruli created the first world andwas
entrusted toeliminate all of the dangerous animals and
imperfections. This world wasdestroyed by a great inundation from
which only Npiruli, Amruyawa,and some human-animal beings
survived.
The second cycle narrates the expansion of the miniature world
untilit reaches its natural size with mountains, rivers, and
forests; the centralactors are Npiruli, the three sons of Npiruli,
Amruyawa, the secondKuw, Kli, some human-animal beings, and the
first ancestors. This cycleexplains the life and death of Kuw, or
the voice that opened up (expanded)the world. He taught agriculture
(kaltani) and the sacred rituals of initia-tion to the first
ancestors.12 At the end of the first ritual, Kuw performedfor the
first ancestors, then Npiruli killed him in a great fire and
Kuwleft the world and went to heaven. From his ashes sprout the
materialsfor making the sacred flutes and trumpets (his voice)
played in initiationand other sacred rituals today. However,
Amruyawa and other womenstole the sacred instruments from the
initiated men; and this act of Amru-yawa and her troop of women set
off a long chase (opening theworld again)from the Ayar and Isana
Rivers to different places in the Orinoco, Negro,and Amazon Basins.
This long chase ended when Npiruli and his men re-gained control
over Kuws instruments. According to the Warekena and
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The Arawak Sacred Routes
the Bar, the death of Kuw and the chase of women were two
importanthistorical moments that changed forever the culture and
society of theirancestors; after those events, the forebearers of
contemporary Arawakan-speaking groups began gathering to celebrate
initiation rituals.
The third cycle of narratives accounts for relationships among
people,between people and their ancestors, and between human beings
and power-ful spirits from other parts of the cosmos, as well as
the connections amongdifferent regions of the cosmos. It narrates
the human past of mythic an-cestors (Npiruli, Amruyawa), and the
central characters are Purnam-nali (or the giver of names),
Pumyawa, Kumasi, and some other real andmythic forebears. This set
of narratives mostly takes place inWarekena andBar ancestral lands
and is connected with some of their economic, migra-tory,
commercial, political, and shamanic activities.
According to theWarekena and the Bar, the history of their
ancestorscan be divided into three important phases or periods that
reflect variousprocesses of unification of different peoples and of
sociopolitical and reli-gious transformation. The first period
occurred in the Isana River, whenthe world was created, and it is
related to the first cycle of mythical narra-tives. The second
phase deals with the transformation of rituals of initia-tion and
the Kuw cult in a religion that includes an organization of
war-riors and secret male societies. It began during the time of
the grandfathersDer-der(-nwi) and Benbena, when they introduced
initiation rites foryoung girls. By Kuw routes they traveled to
different places, inviting rela-tives, in-laws, and friends to the
ritual, and all the people met at Maracoa(now known as San Fernando
de Atabapo, in the upper Orinoco). Later,in Capihuara and other
places of the Casiquiare Basin, the forefathers per-formed an
important initiation rite for the daughters of grandfather
Siwali(an ancient chief or captain of the Warekena). There was a
great concen-tration of different peoples there (ancestors of the
Bar, the Warekena, theBaniva, and so on), led by Dpenabe, the
master of the rite, and Dzli asthe great shaman. After this event,
many groups related to the Warekena,Bar, Baniva, and their in-laws
and allies started to celebrate the initiationceremonies for men
and the Kuw religion began.
The third period began when the Kakhau people murdered Pum-yawa
and her husband in the Aguachapita River, an affluent of the
Casi-quiare; Pumyawa saw their Kuw, and in this way she broke the
sacredlaws of the religion. Before dying, however, she gave birth
to Kumasi (orKumati in Bar), who was protected and raised by Inmalu
and Inilwiyupeoples. When he grew older, Kumasi waged a war against
the Kak-hau, their allies and in-laws. He and his men killed
Captain Ipchipimhliand most of the Kakhau. Kumasis victory
generated a new process of
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Silvia M. Vidal
sociopolitical reorganization, which started another generation
of groupsor peoples.
In these oral histories the names of some of the mythical and
historicalancestors of the Warekana and the Bar are intermingled,
especially thoseof some warrior-chiefs of the eighteenth century,
such as Cocui, Davipe,Cabi, Cayama, and Basimnare, among others. It
is interesting to high-light that in these narratives the ancestors
are portrayed as people buildingand opening roads (Kuw Duwkalumi),
writing messages and teachingsin riverine stones (petroglyphs), and
traveling by Kuw routes.
Kuw Sacred Routes and Travels
The Kuw cult is associated with a map or imagery of sacred
routes andplaces, which can be described as a symbolic
infrastructure that connectsmeaningful landscapes and spiritual
locations of this and other worlds (thatis, other regions or levels
of the cosmos). Hill (b: ) explains:The use of spatial movements as
metaphors for the social constructionof history is given its most
complete elaboration in male and female ritu-als. The map of sacred
routes and places is part of Kuws geographi-cal, ecological,
botanical, and zoological teachings and knowledge. KuwDuwkalumi
literally means where Kuw passed by and includes mythi-cal journeys
(the powerful naming process of geographical places duringa
shamanistic ritual or other religious festival) and a complex
network ofroutes that connect different regions of South
America.13These routes com-bine mobilization through land and
water; that is, through rivers, creeks,lakes, and sea, as well as
by roads, trails, and narrow paths through tropi-cal forests and
savannas. These land routes link the headwaters of severalriver
basins. It is this combination of using both land and water routes
thatgave (and still gives) Arawakan-speaking groups ways to develop
strate-gies of resistance. Kuw routes (Figure ) also represent the
location of andthe connection with sacred places related to the
creation of the world, ofpeople, and of the social order as well as
those related to the performanceof ceremonies of the Kuw religion
and shamanic rituals. The routes arelinked to sacred and secular
strategic resources (i.e., gold, silver, stones)and to people and
places, for sociopolitical, migratory, and commercialpurposes.
According to the Warekena and the Bar (and their affines),
thereare at least eighteen main Kuw routes (Figures and ). During
his lifeKuw and his troops traveled to all of these places; and
after his deathother mythical ancestors and living elders continued
traveling to the north,west, and east of the Amazon Basin. During
the eighteenth century some
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The Arawak Sacred Routes
Figure . Map of Kuw Routes. Source: Vidal .
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Silvia M. Vidal
Figure . Map of Sacred and Secular Places Related to Kuw Routes.
Source: Vidal ,.
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The Arawak Sacred Routes
Figure . Main Kuw Routes According to the Bar and Warekena Oral
Traditions.
Arawakan-speaking powerful leaders and their groups were
impersonat-ing Kuw and his troops; they were traveling, migrating,
trading, and bat-tling by using the Kuw sacred routes. In his
interpretations of Kwaisjourneys among the Arawakan Hohodene,
Wright () concludes thatthese travels represent their notions of
territoriality and collective iden-tity as well as their sense of
cumulative historical knowledge, includingtheir experiences of
contact, trading networks, and wars with other ethnicgroups. In
short, the integration and relationship between the secret
malesocieties and Kuw teachings and knowledge constitutes a model
of and
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Silvia M. Vidal
for their societies and their geopolitical relations. The
integration and rela-tionship between secret male societies and Kuw
Duwkalumi thus formthe sociopolitical and religious basis of the
regional leadership of powerfulArawakan-speaking warrior-chiefs and
groups.
Warekena and Bar Routes ofMigration, Trade, and Resistance
From the sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries the ancient
forebears oftheWarekena and the Bar were part of the populations
organized into theManoa macropolity and some others (also known as
macroregional politi-cal and economic systems; see Vidal ) of the
lower Negro River andother areas of the Northwest and Central
Amazon regions.14 These macro-polities were multiethnic,
multilingual, sociopolitical, and economic sys-tems that had an
internal interethnic hierarchy led by a paramount chief(lord or
king) and a powerful elite of secondary chiefs; leadership
washereditary (Whitehead ; Vidal ). Early European documents ofthe
great river basins of the Orinoco and Amazon refer to the
existenceof extensive connections between groups (riverine and
hinterland peoples)within and among different regions (Acua ;
Almesto ; Cuervo; De la Cruz ; Federmann ; Simn ; Llanos Vargasand
Pineda Camacho; Whitehead, a). Most of these connec-tions included
regional trade systems.
European colonization of the Negro River basin began by the
mid-seventeenth century. Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and
British colo-nial empires were competing among themselves andwith
some Amerindianleader groups of local macropolities to take control
over Indian popula-tions and regional trade systems of the Orinoco
and Amazon Rivers. De-spite this, it seems that the powerful
leadership of theManoa macropolititymanaged to last until the late
s, when it began to lose its political andeconomic dominance over
the region. During and war broke outbetween two important Indian
factions of the lower Negro River (whichprobably included such
groups as the Guaranacoacena, the Manacuru, theYumaguaris, and the
Caburicena) because of the death of their paramountchief. In the
Portuguese authorities began the practice of capturingthe children
of important Indian chiefs to indoctrinate them in the
Catholicreligion and to teach them the Yeral language. They also
initiated the per-secution and enslavement of Amerindian shamans as
an official strategy toeliminate idolatry (or native religion
systems) and Indian rebellions (Beten-dorf : ). Soon after there
were additional confrontations and con-flicts among the Manao, the
Bar, the Cariaya, the Curanao, and other
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The Arawak Sacred Routes
groups for the political and economic control of the middle
Negro River(Ferreira : ; Ribeiro de Sampaio : ,).
By the end of the seventeenth century the Manoa and other
macro-polities of the Negro, Orinoco, and Amazon Rivers were
experiencingdynamic processes of transformation and disintegration.
Internal socio-political contradictions and conflicts, the
demographic decimation ofAmerindian populations (by disease,
enslavement, and the like), and theEuropean colonization of the
Negro River led to radical disruptions. Theseprocesses caused a new
cooperation and mobilization of Indian groups,which became known by
the early eighteenth century as the new socio-political formations
called multiethnic confederacies (Vidal ). Thesemultiethnic
confederacies, or trading-military modes of leadership andpolities
(Whitehead: ), were flexible and varied in their ethnic mem-bership
and were led by charismatic shaman-warrior chiefs. These power-ful
chiefs based their political authority on their ability to build
personalfollowings (kinfolks, in-laws, and allies), on their skills
as regional trad-ers, especially of European goods, and on their
shamanic knowledgeand power. Both European written records 15 and
the oral history 16 ofArawakan-speaking groups allow the conclusion
that these chiefs or cap-tains and their followings conducted big
multiethnic ritual festivals re-lated to the Kuw religion. These
festivals included visits to sacred places,special and private
houses for men, whipping and fastings ceremonies,and such musical
performances as dancing, singing, and playing trumpets,flutes, and
drums. Indeed, in Indian villages and mission towns there
werespecial houses for chiefs that were bigger than the others and
dedicatedto male meetings and ritual festivals (Ferreira : ). Also,
in largerIndian villages there was a ritual house for each chief
and important politi-cal leader. At those houses the initiated men
received visitors and per-formed ritual whippings and combats,
which sometimes ended with afew warriors wounded or dead. Despite
these casualties, however, thesemeetings between powerful chiefs
and their troops also promoted new af-final relationships and peace
agreements.17
European and Amerindian narratives also reveal the routes
connectingseveral trade systems from the Negro River to surrounding
regions. Tradesystems and sacred places were connected from the
Negro River to sur-rounding regions by several Kuw routes.18 In
addition to having importantesoteric and religious value, sacred
places were also strategic sites for thedefense and trade of Indian
leaders and groups.19 Eighteenth-century writ-ten records refer to
different sacred ritual places and Indian market centersthat were
highly valuable to both European authorities and Indian
leaders(Morey ; Sweet ; Hemming ; Whitehead ). The impor-
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Silvia M. Vidal
tance of these sacred places, as detailed in the Europeanwritten
sources andin the Indian oral history, varied during the eighteenth
century accordingto their relevance for the commercial activities
and the political alliances ofEuropeans and Indians. Some of these
sacred places were Cumar, AturesandMaipures Falls,Yauita orYavita
(a site located at the Temi Creek in theupper Atabapo Basin),
Cocorubi Falls, Mari River, Maracoa (the south-ern part of the
actual village of San Fernando de Atabapo), Autana River(a creek of
the upper Orinoco Basin), Inrida River, Pasiva Lagoon andother
places on the Casiquiare River, Tomo River (located at the
upperGuainia Basin), Vaups Falls, and Isana Falls.20 For example,
the Cumarsite was located between the Arir (or Ariraj) and Unini
Rivers in front ofthe mouth of the Branco River (Ribeiro de Sampaio
: ). Cumar(later known as the city of Poiares) received the name of
Juruparporacei-tua, or place where Jurupar or Kuw dances. The
Caburicena (the an-cient forefathers of the contemporary Bar and
other Arawakan-speakinggroups) and many other groups held their
ritual festivals at this site (ibid.).This sacred place was related
to the trading route connecting the Japurand upper Amazon Rivers
with the Branco River and the Guianas. Thus,as Neil L.Whitehead (a:
) and I (: , , ,) have noted, there was an ancient trade system
between the upperUcayali, Negro, Orinoco, the Guianas, and the
Caribbean. Through thistrade network circulated different items
(gold objects, greenstones, Euro-pean manufactures, and the like)
as well as people and information.
Between and , Arawakan-speaking groups and their alliesregrouped
to form four multiethnic confederacies: the Manao confeder-acy 21
(Manao, Bar, Mak, Tibur, Mabazar, Javar, Bumajana, Maia-pena, and
others); the Cauauricena confederacy 22 (the Bar, Caraya,
Guai-punavi, and other groups from the lower and middle Negro
River); theAranacoacena confederacy (the Bar, Curanao, and other
groups from themiddle and upper Negro Basin); and the Caberre
confederacy 23 (the Ca-berre, Amarisano, Achagua, Enagua, Maipure,
Avane, Ature, Sliva, andother groups from the Guaviare and upper
Orinoco Basins). Most of theseconfederated groups and their leaders
were devoted to an intense trade oftheir own commercial products
and slaves with each other as well as withPortuguese, French,
Spanish, and Dutch colonies in exchange for guns andother European
goods.
While the Manao confederacy maintained its economic and
politicalautonomy by freely trading with other Amerindian polities,
as well as withtheir Dutch, Spanish, and other European commercial
partners, the Arana-coacena, Cauauricena, and Caberre confederacies
were political allies andeconomic partners to colonial
authorities.
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The Arawak Sacred Routes
During this period therewere many different European camps,
knownas arraiales or corrals, which were used to keep captive
Indian slaves and tocontrol Amerindian and foreigners traffic
between colonies. Two of thesearraiales were located in the Lugar
de Alvaraes (in the Amazon, betweenthe Tef and Paraguar Rivers) and
in the Fortaleza de Barra do Rio Negro(later known as Manaus). From
these places Portuguese authorities ledenslavement parties and
campaigns of extermination (so-called just wars)against such Indian
groups as the Tarum.
From the s to the s there were wars between the
Manao,Cauauricena, and Aranacoacena confederacies for control over
importantareas of the middle Negro River related to the European
goods trade fromand to the Dutch colonies (Ribeiro de Sampaio: ,;
Ferreira:). As a result the Manao and their Bar allies extended
their dominanceto the Dara, Padaur, and Branco Rivers, as well as
to other zones of theNegro River that used to be under control of
the Caraja, Curanao, andother groups. The Manao confederacy, under
the leadership of the chiefAjuricaba, were thus in control of many
commercial and sacred routes andwere using them in their trade
system from the Cumar site to the So-limoes and the Guianas.
Between the late s and earlys theManaoconfederacy was at war with
Portuguese colonial authorities. After ,when the Manao confederacy
was dismembered by the Portugueses justwar, most of the Manao (the
Manao, Urumanao, Irrumanao) and othergroups related to the Warekena
and the Bar forefathers (the Maiapena,Caranai, Uipuari) were
emigrating to the upper Negro, Atabapo, and Ori-noco Rivers by
important Kuw routes.
On the one hand the instability of these new ethnic formations,
theirpossession of a great number of European weapons, and their
definitive in-sertion in the colonial commercial networks of
European goods led to com-petition and internecine conflicts among
the leading of these Indian con-federacies. On the other hand
European economic ambitions and fears ofthese powerful Indian
groups pushed colonial authorities to intensify theirexplorations
and patrolling of some important commercial routes and tocompete
with the Amerindian polities and other foreign powers to
gaincontrol of strategic areas of the Negro and Orinoco Basins. The
Europeancolonial system itself and interactions among Europeans and
Indians werethus decisive for the creation and transformation of
these new ethnic socio-political formations.
Between and the processes of reorganization and fusionof
Amerindian societies gave rise to four new confederacies: the
Dema-nao confederacy 24 (the Bar, Manao, Warekena, Cubeo, Mak, and
othergroups from the middle and upper Negro River); the Madwaka
confeder-
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Silvia M. Vidal
acy 25 (the Bar, Bar-Madwaka,Warekena, Yahure, Guinau, Anauy,
Ba-niva, Desana, Mak Guariba, Yekuana, and other groups from the
upperNegro, upper Orinoco, and Casiquiare Basins); the Boap-Maniva
confed-eracy 26 (the Boap or Tariana, Baniwa or Kurripako, Mabana,
Meoana orArapaco, Mabei, Cubeo, Yapoa, Mak, Chapuena, and other
groups fromtheVaups and Isana Basins); and the Guaipunavi
confederacy 27 (the Guai-punavi,Warekena, Maipure, Piapoco,
Caberre, Parene, Puinave, and othergroups of the upper Orinoco,
Guaviare, and Guaina Rivers).
Both the victory of the Manao over the Aranacoacena and
Cauauri-cena in the middle Negro River and their defeat by
Portuguese colonialforces were directly related to the emergence of
the Guaipunavi confeder-acy and their migration to the upper
Orinoco region.The Uipuari, Ipunawaor Guaipunavi, under the
leadership of Macapu, migrated from middleNegro via the Isana route
(Figure : A.) to the upper Orinoco. In this re-gion they conducted
a large war against the Caberre, whom they expelledto mission towns
and other places in the middle Orinoco area. By theGuaipunavi were
one of the powerful groups of the upper Orinoco region(Gilij ; Vega
; Ramos Prez ).
Crossing over the border between Portuguese and Spanish
colonieswas a common strategy used by the Guaipunavi and other
groups duringthis period. But the Guaipunavi did it by using a Kuw
sacred route, whichgave them the opportunity to regain their
political, economic, and reli-gious power over other
Arawakan-speaking groups of the upper OrinocoBasin. In this way
they came to control an important sacred and strategicplace, the
township of Maracoa (now known as San Fernando de Atabapo)located
on the right margin of the lower Atabapo River, at the confluence
ofthe upper Orinoco,Guaviare, andManapiare Rivers.These strategic
placesand villages of Guaipunavi principal leaders (Macapu and
Cucero) werefortified at the Inrida, Atabapo,Orinoco, and Autana
Rivers (Altolaguirre; Gilij ).
After the defeat of theManao, the Demanao confederacy, led by
ChiefCamanao, controlled the routes by the Mari, Cababur, and
Branco TheRivers. The Demanao controlled Cocorubi Falls (known
today as SaoGabriel das Cachoeiras) and the area of the Cucui Rock,
two sacred andstrategic places of the Arawakan-speaking groups.
Camanao and his groupwere also important trading and military
partners of the Portuguese au-thorities.
The people of the Boap-Maniva confederacywhich embracedgroups
related to the Bar and the Warekena forefathers or their
affines,such as the Buop (Tariana) and the Pariana (Yavitero,
Baniva)tradedgold and other goods from the Isana and Vaups Rivers
to the Orinoco
-
The Arawak Sacred Routes
and Solimoes as well as other important places in South America
(Figure :A, B). Probably as a result of internal conflicts and the
Portuguese cam-paign against the Manao, by and the Pariana migrated
from theupperVaups to the Guaina and upper Atabapo Basins, using
Kuw routes(Figure : C., D.). The Madwaka confederacy (the
Umasevitaunaand Darivazauna) controlled two important trade routes
(Figure : C.,E.) and shared another route with the Manao (Figure :
C.).
From the s to the late s the progressive process of
Europeaneconomic dominion over the Amerindian political economy
began. Duringthis period the Crowns of Spain and Portugal signed a
delimitation treatyto demarcate their respective overseas
possessions. The border demarca-tion, the expansion of colonial
frontiers, was dedicated to definitive territo-rial control, to the
expulsion of foreign intruders and competitors, and tothe
political, legal, economic, and cultural integration (or forced
amalga-mation) of Indian populations to the imperial Crowns. As a
consequence,new sociopolitical changes and violence took place in
the OrinocoNegroregion. Between and there were many Indian
rebellions in themiddle and upper Negro and in the upper Orinoco
Rivers (Cauln ;Fernndez de Bovadilla ; Ramos Prez ; Mendoa Furtado
;Ferreira , , , ). While some rebel groups defended theirlands and
sacred places against European encroachment, others fought toregain
control over strategic networks of trade.28 For example, Imo
(orImmo), the principal leader of the Marabitana confederacywith
morethan two hundred Marabitana, Amuisana, and Guaipunavi men
andwomenattacked the Spanish mission of San Juan Nepomuceno de
Atures(Szentmartonyi, inWright; Gilij ; Ramos Prez). Beforetheir
attack Imo and his group performed a sacred ritual, which
includedplaying flutes, trumpets, and drums (Gilij : ). The purpose
ofthis attack was probably to stop Spanish expansion from the
middle Ori-noco to the Negro River.
From to the Amerindian confederacies of the upper Negroand upper
Orinoco Rivers were led by strong warriors-shaman chiefs whowere
directly associated with the Kuw religion. In fact, thewritten
recordssay that Cuceru, Imo, Cocui, Amuni, Mara, Davipe, Inao, and
others ledsecret (warrior) male societies that required special men
houses, whip-ping and fasting ceremonies, and sacred places
(Altolaguirre ; RamosPrez ; Vegas ). After their rituals and
meetings these powerfulchiefs and their followers used to go out on
warfare and trade parties.But these events meant a deeper
involvement of these Indian groups inthe colonial system. This
involvement produced a continuous desertion ofsome indigenous
groups from European towns and villages, while for other
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Silvia M. Vidal
groups it entailed a decline of their economic and political
autonomy.Theseincidents helped to sustain some Indian confederacies
(i.e., the Guaipu-navi, the Madwaka) but also favored the emergence
of others, such asthe Marabitana,29 the Darivazauna,30 the
Umasevitauna,31 the Urumanavi,32
and the Amuisana,33 which became more powerful in the upper
NegroCasiquiareGuainaupper Orinoco region.
Between and European expeditions of delimitation of colo-nial
frontiers occurred in the upper Negroupper Orinoco Region.
Mili-tary and civilian authorities tried to impose some changes in
the organiza-tion of their respective colonies; new foundations of
towns and fortressesbegan, and mission towns were transformed into
secular villages underthe control of new European and Indian
authorities. Europeans prohibitedAmerindian groups to freely move
within and among colonial territories.During this period Europeans
began to improve their geographical knowl-edge of the region, and
in this way they started the process of imposingtheir colonial
cartography over the Amerindian one.
A great contingent of Portuguese soldiers, officials, and
experts trav-eled by the Negro River and began using indigenous
chiefs and groupsas mediators and ethnic militia against other
independent Indian groups.This Portuguese campaign generated a
great Indian rebellion in . In-deed, several allied Amerindian
confederacies and Indians from missiontowns faced the Portuguese
army at So Gabriel Falls. This war severed theIndian-Portuguese
relationships and caused many Indian migratory move-ments from the
middle Negro Basin to the upper Negroupper Orinocoregion to the
Spanish colony. As a consequence, the confrontation betweenthe
Guaipunavi and theMarabitana started. Both confederations
competedfor the political control of the Indian slaves and European
goods trade sys-tem through the entire region (Gilij : ; Humboldt :
).
Spanish authorities caused more changes with their intervention
inIndian-European interaction. The authorities tried to negotiate
their politi-cal protection to Indians in exchange for indigenous
subjection to the Span-ish Crown. By many powerful Amerindian
leaders of the Guaipunaviand Marabitana confederacies were
performing public ceremonies of vas-salage to Spanish authorities
at San Fernando de Atabapo. This vassalageweakened the leadership
of Cucero and Imo and directly affected the Guai-punavi
confederacy, causing its rapid disintegration. The influence of
otherleaders like Cocui increased, however. Cocui became the
principal chiefof the Marabaitana and other smaller confederacies
of the Upper Negroregion.
By the end of eighteenth century most of the places along major
riversroutes (the upper Orinoco and upper Negro) were virtually
uninhabited
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The Arawak Sacred Routes
(Jerez a, b; Ribeiro de Sampaio ; Humboldt, , vol. ;Ferreira , ,
, ), and several groups on the Negro Riverhad been transformed from
gentiles (independent peoples) into abalizados(assimilated
individuals and families) (Neto ) or groups undergoingdrastic
reductions in their political autonomy (Vidal ). During thissame
period a new Amerindian category emerged: canicur (Neto :;
Stradelli : ). The term literally meant traitor, and it wasused by
the Manao, the Bar, and other groups of the upper Negro re-gion to
refer to individuals and groups who were at the service of the
colo-nial powers. By the close of the century the European economy,
cartog-raphy, and colonial system dominated the Orinoco-Negro
region. Despitethis, some Indian groups managed to survive and
resist colonial dominionby transforming their sociopolitical
structures and redefining their ethnicidentities. Indeed, some of
their leaderssuch as the Marabitana Cocuiand the Umasevituana
Davipewere able to reinstate the Kuw religionat the Cucui Mountain
site and in the Tomo, San Miguel, and TiriqunRivers.34 During his
visit to San Carlos de Ro Negro, between and, Alejandro de Humboldt
(, vol. ) was able to listen to the sacredflutes and trumpets of
Kuw or Kachimanai (botutos) at the Tomo River;he also learned about
the achievements and powerful ritual knowledge ofCocui, the great
cacique of the Marabitana.
Conclusion
The Kuw Duwkalumi were used during the eighteenth century by
theWarekena and the Bar forebears as political, religious,
migratory, andtrade strategies of resistance. During this period
powerful shaman-warriorsledmultiethnic confederacies,
ormilitary-trading polities.The polities wereflexible and highly
variable ethnic formations that were directly stimulatedby the
European-Indian interactions; they represented a quick response
andstrategy for survival and redefinition of Indian ethnic
identities.
By trading, migrating, and resisting, these powerful chiefs and
theirfollowers emulated Kuw and his troops; in this way they
challenged andweakened the European colonial system. These leaders
and their followerstransformed the Kuw cult into a strong religious
system that was sharedby many Indian groups of the Northwest Amazon
(including the Tukano-ans, Maks, and other groups) (Amorim ; Hill ,
; Gonzlezez ; Reichel-Dolmatoff, ; Wright , ; Vidal ,). This
religious system, as an ideological support of
military-tradingpolities, also came to favor the emergence and
continuity of a pan-Indianpolitical-religious hierarchy in the
northwest Amazon during the nine-
-
Silvia M. Vidal
teenth century. This pan-Indian organization came into action
during therubber boom era as powerful Indian shaman-prophets led
millenarianmovements (Hill and Wright ; Wright and Hill ).
The Kuw religion and secret male societies constituted
importantaspects of the shamanic way of constructing history,
culture, and societyfor the Warekena and the Bar forefathers. This
political and religiousstrategy allowed theWarekena and the Bar
ancient leaders to build politi-cal communities and new cultural
identities within the colonial regime ofthe eighteenth century.
This article has shown that Kuw routes consti-tuted an extensive
network of fluvial, terrestrial, and fluvio-terrestrial
con-nections that tied together different Amerindian groups and
ample areasof the South American lowlands. The routes are directly
related to a com-plex and varied ancient knowledge and a map of
sacred and secular places.This map represents the ancient
Amerindian geopolitical knowledge thatincludes former
sociopolitical, religious, economic, and cultural relation-ships
within and among Indian peoples of the great region between
theOrinoco and Amazon Rivers. But the most important aspect of this
mapis that it constituted the cartographic knowledge of the
Warekena and theBar forefathers used to organize and interpret the
Americas. This carto-graphic knowledgewas continually contested by
the European cartographyand the topography of colonial power.
Kuw teachings and sacred routes also represent the valuable
infor-mation contained in the mytho-history and oral history of the
Warekenaand the Bar. This information is crucial for understanding
the histori-cal processes of the South American lowlands. This
article shows that bycombining Amerindian mytho-history and oral
history (including Indiancategories and typologies) with other data
(archaeological, ethnohistorical,ethnographic evidences), it is
possible to obtain an insightful approach tothe nature of both
interethnic and commercial networks as well as the mi-gratory
processes of the Arawak and other peoples of the South
Americanlowlands.
As this article has detailed, the Bar and Warekena forebears
used theKuw teachings and sacred routesor the Kuw religionnot only
to par-ticipate in the trading network of Indian slaves and
European goods (espe-cially firearms, knives, machetes) but also to
evade or challenge the colonialdominion. On the one hand their
participation in regional trading systemsallowed the Warekena and
Bar leaders to regain power and prestige, butthis strategy led to
the collapse of their local and regional leadership withinthe
colonial system. On the other hand the migratory movements of
theWarekena, the Bar, and other groups caused the partial failure
of the Por-tuguese and Spanish missionary, military, and civil
authorities to develop a
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The Arawak Sacred Routes
stable colonial system during most of the eighteenth century in
the upperOrinocoupper Negro region.
By participating, resisting, and fighting the colonial regimes,
theWare-kena and the Bar forebears were able to rebuild and control
their owncultures, identities, territories, and societies. But the
most important thingwas that their continual process of rebuilding
political and cultural com-munities also contributed to the
emergence of yet another political and cul-tural community: that of
the criollo or creole populations of the NorthwestAmazon region of
Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil.
Even today the Bar and the Warekena travel by Kwe routes. TheBar
are still fighting to recover their political and economic
autonomy.TheWarekena still organize themselves in secret male
societies, and in this wayKuw and his troop of initiated Warekenas
continue opening and closingthe world at the sacred places of the
San Miguel River. But the most im-portant legacy of their ancestors
is that the Warekena and Bar still in-voke Kuw Duwkalumi as a
powerful strategy to control their own pastand to defend their
cultural rights and traditional lands. In fact, duringthe s and s
the Warekena traveled and migrated by way of Kuwroutes to resist
gold mining exploitation and invasion of their lands. Forthe last
three decades both theWarekena and the Bar have been talking tothe
Venezuelan authorities about Kuw teachings and routes as sacred
andlegal instruments to reclaim their rights to their ancient
territories.
Notes
A version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of
the AmericanAnthropological Association, San Francisco, November,
in the sympo-sium Reconstructing and Deconstructing Colonial
Peripatetics in Venezuela. - (the Venezuelan Council for
Technological and Scientific Research) and (the Venezuelan
Institute of Scientific Research) provided me with the funds to
at-tend this symposium. I am deeply grateful to theWarekena, Bar,
and Baniva elders,colleagues, and friends for sharing with me their
forefathers teachings and sacredknowledge. I would like to thank in
particular Nelly Arvelo-Jimnez, Jonathan D.Hill, Berta E. Prez,
Abel Perozo, Neil L.Whitehead, and Alberta Zucchi for
theircontributions, comments, and suggestions. I also thank Carlos
Quintero for elabo-ration of the maps.
By multiethnic I mean that the Indian populations of these
confederacies be-longed to different ethnic-linguistic groups of
the Arawakan, Tukanoan, Ma-kuan, and other linguistic families.
Fernando Santos Granero () states that the Yanesha (or Amuesha,
anotherArawakan-speaking group from Peru) also preserve their
historical memoryby different and complex practices, including that
of writing history into thelandscape. The author calls this
practice as topographic writing (ibid.: ).
-
Silvia M. Vidal
In his article Santos Granero mentions that the Wakunai (another
Arawakan-speaking group from Venezuela) and the Paez (an Indian
group from the Co-lombian Andes) also share this practice.
See also Adorno; Asad; Basso ; Boyarin ; Coronil ; Hill; Mignolo
; Seed ; Shapiro ; Turner a, ; Whitehead, b.
See also Baer ; Biord Castillo ; Butt-Colson; Chernela , ;Hill ,
a, b; Journet ; Meira a, b; Morales Mndez, , ; Reichel-Dolmatoff ;
Santos Granero ; Vidal ,; Whitehead , a, b; Wright ; Wright and
Hill .
Since the end of s, some Warekena, Baniva, Kurripako, Bar, and
Yeralritual specialists, elders, and teachers have begun conducting
their own researchon their cultures and histories. I was honored
with the invitation to read anddiscuss with them most of their work
and findings.
Today many Latin American peoples (Indians, Afro-Americans, and
criollos)center their social and political struggles on their own
definitions and interpre-tations of history (Guzmn Bckler ).
Defining and controlling the past isthe ultimate form of hegemony
(Hill a: ), representing the complicity ofthe official history with
empires (Mignolo ; Guha ; Guha and Spivak).
Mythic and historical narratives are known to the Bar as
[a]chelekawa (to nar-rate, tell, or relate). Mythic narratives
begin with the expression of Idabakabeuku yajanei (when the
day/light began or in the beginning of the world);while for oral
history the Bar use personal names of ancestors or kinship
ter-minology, followed by the suffix -mi (as a preterit marker).
The Warekena dis-tinguish between mythic narratives (kasaleta, to
tell, relate, narrate) and oralhistory (panina); but when they are
narrating, they follow the same pattern asthe Bar. For example, Ale
tapaka puna (when the day/light began or in thebeginning of the
world). They also use the suffix -mi.
Also known to the Bar, Baniva, and Yavitero as Katsimnai, the
shrimp eater.Baniva and Yavitero are two other Arawakan-speaking
groups of the upperNegroupper Guainia region.
Inepe miki nawimeans the real or mythic ancestors from a very
distant past.Npiruli is the Trickster-Creator; Purnamnali is the
giver of names and apowerful shaman-warrior; and Dzli is the first
shaman who taught the Ware-kena and Bar forebears his knowledge on
shamanism. Pjnawji or pinjli-nwimeans the elders. These are the
living old people who have important histori-cal, shamanistic,
ritual, and practical knowledge.
They also share these cult and religious beliefs with the
Tukanoan-speakinggroups of the same region (see Chernela , ; C.
Hugh-Jones ;S. Hugh-Jones , ; Jackson ).
See Hill , ; Vidal , ; and Wright , for more informa-tion on the
mythohistorical narratives of other Arawakan-speaking groups.
Kaltani, meaning the tree of all fruits and vegetables, is the
name of a moun-tain located at the Autana River, a small branch of
the upper Orinoco River.
In some maps Kuw routes also appear as Passage of the Devil or
as Yuru-par, a name for Kwai in the Yeral language. During rituals
Warekena andBar shamans, elders, and initiated men can spiritually
and symbolically travelto visit sacred places located in this and
other levels of the cosmos. They also
-
The Arawak Sacred Routes
believe that Kuw can come to the ground (i.e., he visits this
world) duringritual festivals or that he can be brought down to
this world by ritual spe-cialists.
In the written records the Warekena are known as Orejones,
Guarequena, Ari-quena, or Uerekena, and the Bar as Barena, Balnu,
and Bale (for other namesand references, see Vidal ). The Warekena
of the upper Negro were alsomentioned as using a sort of quipu
writing system after the manner of theancient Peruvians (Baena : ;
Ribeiro de Sampaio : ). I asked theWarekena elders about this
quipu; they informed me that their forebears usedto have a system
of cords and knots to sendmessages from one place to another;some
Warekena still remember part of this system.
Betendorf ; Cauln ; Cuervo ; Daniel ; Fernndez de Bo-vadilla ;
Ferreira ; Fritz ; Gilij ; Humboldt ; Jerez a,b; Llanos Vargas and
Pineda Camacho ; Mendoa Furtado ;Ramos Prez ; Ribeiro de Sampaio ;
Simn ; Sweet ; Szent-martonyi, in Wright ; Vega ; Vidal ; Vidal and
Zucchi ;Wright .
For example, in Amorim there are many Amerindian narratives that
men-tion these shaman-warrior chiefs, such as Buop (), Cocui (),and
others. These chiefs and their warriors performed Kuw rituals and
festi-vals before they went on war parties and trading travels.
One of these ritual whippings, combats, and meetings was
documented forthe Manetivitano (or Marabitana) and the Guaipunavi
in the Atabapo River(Ramos Prez ). Felipe Salvador Gilij (, vol. ),
an eighteenth-centurymissionary, also mentions that Guaipunavi
leaders and shamans used to singand dance a variety of songs,
including one he heard named mariye. This songis currently sung
during Kuw rituals among the Warekena.
According to Whitehead (a: ), the mythology of the Lokono
(anotherArawakan-speaking group) and the eighteenth-century written
records aboutthem indicate that their political geography extended
right across the Guayanashield into Colombia and onto the Pacific
coast. This constitutes another ex-ample of the secret and secular
knowledge of the Arawakan-speaking groupsrelated to trade networks
and routes.
To the Arawakan-speaking groups, sacred places include rocks,
mountains,lagoons, rapids, and falls. Petroglyphs and other forms
of rock art and ritualstructures are also associated with these
places.
Altolaguirre y Duvale ; Gilij ; Humboldt ; Llanos Vargas
andPineda Camacho ; Mendoa Furtado ; Ramos Prez ; Ribeiro deSampaio
; Sweet ; Vega ; Wright .
The leader of the Manao confederacy was Ayuricaba (Ajuricaba);
another im-portant leader was Camandary (Camandry).
Curunam was the paramount leader of the Cavauricana confederacy;
he wasalso in control of the sacred site Cumar.
By the early eighteenth century the leader of the Caberra
confederacy was Neri-cagua.
The most famous leader of the Demanao confederacy was Camanao.
TheMadwaka confederacy was led in the late seventeenth and early
eighteenth
centuries by a paramount chief called Guaicana. Later, Amuni was
the leaderof this confederacy, and by the s an Indian woman,
Mavideo, daughter of
-
Silvia M. Vidal
the great Guaicana, and her uncle Cachupa are mentioned as the
confederacysinfluential authorities.
The Boap-Maniva confederacy was led by Boap, but Cunaguari is
mentionedas its leader as well.
By the s, when the Guaipunavi arrived in the upper Orinoco,
their leaderwasMacapu. Later, by thes, the confederacy was led by
Cuceru (Cruzero).
For example, there were two important Indian rebellions during
this period:one was the rebellion of the so-called Ro Negro Indians
in the Cocorubi Falls(also known as So Gabriel das Cachoeiras); the
other was that of the Marabi-tana, Guaypunavi, and others groups of
the Maipure Falls. Both rebellions hadthe purpose of regaining
control of the upper Orinocoupper Negro region.
The groups belonging to the Marabitana confederacy were the Bar,
Manao,Guinao, Catarapene, Yahure, Mak, Guariba, Warekena, and
Baniva. At first,Imo (Immo, Imocon) was their principal leader, but
later Cocui (Cucui, Cucubi)was the most influential warrior-shaman
chief of the Marabitana.
The groups belonging to the Darivazauna or Darivazana
confederacy were theBar, Piapoco,Warekena, Puinave, Cubeo. Their
leader was Mar, and his sec-ondary chiefs were Dojo and Mabi.
The groups belonging to the Umasevitauna confederacy were the
Warekena,Bar, and Baniva.
The groups belonging to the Urumanavi confederacy were the Bar
andManao. The groups belonging to the Amuisana confederacy were the
Baniva, Yavitero,
Deesana, and Bar. Cocui was a famous Bar warrior-chief who was
the head of the Bar in the
upper Negro and in the city of San Carlos de Ro Negro at the end
of the eigh-teenth century. Davipe (Dauipe) was a famous Warekena
chief who was thefounder of SanMiguel de Davipe, the first
mission-town for theWarekena Indi-ans on the San Miguel River.
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