Cuiba or Cuiva is a Guahiban language that is spoken by about 2,300 people in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and additional 650 in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. More than half of Cuiba speakers are monolingual, and in Colombia there is a 45% literacy rate. Cuiva is also referred to as Cuiba, Cuiba-Wámonae, Kuiva, Chiricoa, Hiwi, and Maiben. In Colombia, Cuiva is spoken among those who live and who are born surrounding the Colombian rivers, Meta Casanare and Capanaparo. The

Cuiba ethnic group Cuiba or Cuiva is a Guahiban language that is spoken by about 2,300 people in Colombia and additional 650 in Venezuela. More than half of Cuiba speakers are monolingual, and in Colombia there is a 45% literacy rate. Cuiva is also referred to ...

is often found in the

Casanare Department Casanare (, ) is a department located in the central eastern of Colombia. It is famous for its oil and natural gas production as well as its livestock and extensive plains. It is also the tenth largest department with an area of 44,490 km2, ...

. In Venezuela the language is spoken in the state of

Apure Apure State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida (state), Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas (state), Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations ...

, one of the states that border with Colombia, and which is found alongside the Capanaparo river.

History of Cuiba

The term Cuiba is usually used to describe the ethnic group itself, although they do not refer to themselves as Cuiba. Most of those who speak the Cuiba language are monolingual, which is why the language is threatened seeing as the ethnic population itself is only approximately 2,950 and continues to decrease. The Cuiba ethnic group are characterized as being

hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...

s, who live a nomadic lifestyle in small bands along the borders of Colombia and Venezuela. Before 1967, the Cuiba were spread across the

Meta River The Meta River is a major left tributary of the Orinoco River in eastern Colombia and southern Venezuela, South America. The Meta originates in the Cordillera Oriental (Colombia), Eastern Ranges of the Andes and flows through the Meta Department ...

tributaries: Casanare, Agua Clara, Ariporo, Unchadia, Arauca, and Capanaparo. For the most part although the groups of Cuiba today are much smaller, they continue to occupy what is left of the areas around the rivers. The banks of the Casanare, Agua Clara, Ariporo, Unchadia, Arauca, and Capanaparo are for the most part known as Cuiba territory and there has been no evidence stating that the Cuiba have occupied other territory but their own. The Cuiba have gone through many wars and invasions, which have slightly influenced Cuiba political and cultural practices at some point. Although the Europeans have left, some

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

words survived. There is no evidence showing where the Spanish words were originated. There have been many attempts after 1533 invasion attempting to remove the Cuiba from their territory, but although the Cuiba have a small population their culture has largely remained unchanged.

Dialect/varieties

There are 8 dialects in Colombia and Venezuela known as: *Chiricoa *Masiware (Masiguare) *Chiripo (Siripu, Wapiwi) *Yara huuraxi-Capanapara *Mayayero *Monchuelo-Casanare-Cuiba *Tampiwi (Mariposas) *Amarawa (Amorua)

Phonology

Examples

*. People j.: There are people. * : A story j the buzzard: This is a story about the buzzard.

References

Bibliography