The Guahibo (also called Guajibo, or Sikuani, though the latter is regarded as derogatory) people are an
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
people native to the
Llanos
The Llanos ( Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, ...
or savanna plains in eastern
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 ...
(Arauca, Meta, Guainia, and Vichada departments) and in southern
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 ...
near the Colombian border. Their population was estimated at 23,772 people in 1998.
A related group, sometimes considered a sub-tribe of the Guahibo, are the Playero, whose population, estimated in the early 1980s at 200 people, live along the
Arauca River
The Arauca River () rises in the Andes Mountains of north-central Colombia and ends at the Orinoco in Venezuela. For part of its run it is the boundary between Colombia and Venezuela. The major city on its banks is Arauca, Arauca, Arauca, Col ...
.
Municipalities belonging to Guahibo territory
The Guahibo inhabited the Llanos of Arauca.
History
An 1856 watercolor by
Manuel María Paz is an early depiction of the Guahibo people in
Casanare Province
Casanare Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia.
History
It belonged to the Boyacá Department (Gran Colombia), Boyacá Department, which was created in 1824.
The capital was Moreno, now called Paz de Ariporo.
Watercolors painted ...
.
From the late 1700s until at least 1970s, Guahibos and the related Cuiva people suffered severe, if sporadic, violence at the hand of Colombian and Venezuelan colonists. Episodes of violence included an 1870 massacre of over two hundred Guahibos organized by Venezuelan hacendado Pedro del Carmen Gutiérrez.
Hunting parties were organized to target the Indigenous people over this period, a phenomenon portrayed in
José Eustasio Rivera
José Eustasio Rivera Salas (February 19, 1888 – December 1, 1928) was a Colombian lawyer and author primarily known for his national epic ''The Vortex''.
Early life
José Eustasio Rivera was born on February 19, 1888, in Aguas Calientes, a ...
's 1924 novel ''
La Vorágine''.
In 1912, Colombian military officer Buenaventura Bustos wrote a letter reporting the situation: "The ‘civilized’ decimate them with bullets and pursue them without mercy, wheresoever they are, because they have an intimate conviction, and this they say without Christian shame, that they can murder savages as if they were killing beasts."
Language
Guahibo (ISO 639: GUH) belongs to the
Guahiboan languages language family of South America. The existing dialects are: Guahibo (Sikuani), Amorua (Río Tomo Guahibo) and Tigrero. They each have their own languages but many are lost, now replaced by Spanish. Despite 55% illiteracy, there is a written form of Guahibo. There is a Guahibo newspaper, dictionary and grammar book.
See also
*
Achagua people
The Achagua (also Achawa and Axagua) are an Indigenous peoples of South America, Indigenous people of Indigenous peoples in Colombia, Colombia and Indigenous peoples in Venezuela, Venezuela.[Guayupe people
The Guayupe are an Arawakan languages, Arawak-speaking][Description Guayupe]
*
Hiwi people
*
U'wa people
The U'wa are an indigenous people living in the cloud forests of northeastern Colombia. Historically, the U'wa numbered as many as 20,000, scattered over a homeland that extended across the Venezuela-Colombia border. Some 7-8,000 U'wa are alive to ...
References
External links
Guahibo artwork National Museum of the American Indian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guahibo People
Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean
Indigenous peoples in Colombia
Indigenous peoples in Venezuela