U'wa people
Encyclopedia
The U'wa people are an indigenous people
living in the cloud forest
s 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 today.
The U'wa are known to neighboring indigenous peoples as "the thinking people" or "the people who speak well". They were formerly called Tunebo, but today prefer to be known as U'wa, meaning "people".
drilling on their land, which secured the withdrawal of Royal Dutch Shell
and Occidental Petroleum
(Oxy), and continues as Ecopetrol
and Repsol YPF
seek to drill on their land. Their representative to the outside world in this struggle, Berito Kuwaru'wa
, won the Goldman Environmental Prize
in 1998. The conflict came to a head as Oxy prepared to drill at the Gibraltar 1 test site. The U'wa, who had previously threatened to commit mass suicide if the oil extraction project went forward, constructed a small village on the site of the drillsite. They also set up numerous roadblocks and a coordinated (together with neighboring campesinos and the Guahibo people
) a regional social strike that paralyzed the surrounding area. Although the Colombian military dislodged the protesters from the site, no commercially viable deposits were found. The U'wa are now in a new dispute with Ecopetrol
, which is seeking to prospect for oil on their lands.
, in the departments of Arauca
, Boyacá
, Casanare
, Santander
and Northern Santander. Historically, they have also lived in what is now Venezuela
.
Mountains and covers more than 3 million acres (12,000 km²). The area includes the headwaters of the Orinoco River. Historically, substantial portions of their homeland have been protected from any human access.
The U'wa have been engaged in a major project of land recovery, expanding their recognized territory from 247,700 to 543,000 acre (1000 to 2200 km²) Unified Reserve (Resguardo Unido) in 1999.
called Uw Cuwa
("people's tongue"). They have no written tradition and have passed down their knowledge and customs primarily through song
.
Their religious tradition includes an obligation to gather in the summer months and "sing the world into being" as well as to maintain equilibrium between the layers of the world: earth, water, oil, mountains, and sky. Their identification of petroleum
, which they call Ruiria, with the blood of Mother Earth, stiffened their resolve in their conflict with oil corporations in the 1990s.
The U'wa consider non-U'wa to be impure, and place high importance on purification rituals
, which makes interaction with outsiders difficult.
The U'wa organize their political life in a collection of institutions known to the outside world as the U'wa Traditional Authorities. This body is made up of Werjayás (wise elders
) and Karekas (medicine people) from each of the U'wa clans. The system of Cabildos mandated by the Colombian state includes and upper and lower council or Cabildo Mayor and Cabildo Menor, as well as the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Prosecutor and Speaker. Berito KuwarU'wa
has served as president in recent years.
The U'wa have affiliated with the Guahibo people in the Association of Cabildos and Traditional Indigenous Authorities of the Department of Arauca (ASCATIDAR), officially founded in June 2003 to promote the local autonomy of the department's Indian peoples. The Association's president is Dario Tulivila, a Guahibo leader.
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
living in the cloud forest
Cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...
s of northeastern Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. Historically, the U'wa numbered as many as 20,000, scattered over a homeland that extended across the Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
-Colombia border. Some 7-8,000 U'wa are alive today.
The U'wa are known to neighboring indigenous peoples as "the thinking people" or "the people who speak well". They were formerly called Tunebo, but today prefer to be known as U'wa, meaning "people".
Struggle to prevent oil drilling
They gained international visibility in a 14-year long struggle to prevent oilOil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
drilling on their land, which secured the withdrawal of Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
and Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum Corporation is a California-based oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and South America...
(Oxy), and continues as Ecopetrol
Ecopetrol
Ecopetrol , formerly known as Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos S.A. is the largest and primary petroleum company in Colombia. Because of its size, Ecopetrol is a Fortune Global 500 company ranked 445, it belongs to the group of the 25 largest petroleum companies in the world, and it is one of the...
and Repsol YPF
Repsol YPF
Repsol YPF, S.A. is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 29 countries...
seek to drill on their land. Their representative to the outside world in this struggle, Berito Kuwaru'wa
Berito Kuwaru'wa
Berito Kuwaru'wa is a member of the Colombian U'wa people. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1998 for his role as spokesperson in conflicts between the U'wa people and the petroleum industry.-References:...
, won the Goldman Environmental Prize
Goldman Environmental Prize
The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists, one from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. The prize includes a no-strings-attached award of...
in 1998. The conflict came to a head as Oxy prepared to drill at the Gibraltar 1 test site. The U'wa, who had previously threatened to commit mass suicide if the oil extraction project went forward, constructed a small village on the site of the drillsite. They also set up numerous roadblocks and a coordinated (together with neighboring campesinos and the Guahibo people
Guahibo people
The Guahibo people people are an indigenous people native to Llanos or savannah plains in eastern Colombia--Arauca, Meta, Guainia, and Vichada departments--and in southern Venezuela near the Colombian border. Their population is was estimated at 23,772 people in 1998....
) a regional social strike that paralyzed the surrounding area. Although the Colombian military dislodged the protesters from the site, no commercially viable deposits were found. The U'wa are now in a new dispute with Ecopetrol
Ecopetrol
Ecopetrol , formerly known as Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos S.A. is the largest and primary petroleum company in Colombia. Because of its size, Ecopetrol is a Fortune Global 500 company ranked 445, it belongs to the group of the 25 largest petroleum companies in the world, and it is one of the...
, which is seeking to prospect for oil on their lands.
Geography
The U'wa people live in northeast ColombiaColombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, in the departments of Arauca
Arauca Department
Arauca is a department of Colombia located in the extreme north of the Orinoco part of Colombia , bordering Venezuela. It is bordered to the south by the Casanare River and the Meta River, which separate it from the departments of Casanare and Vichada. To the west borders with the Boyacá Department...
, Boyacá
Boyacá Department
Boyacá is one of the 32 Departments of Colombia, and the remnant of one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia".Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mountains of the Eastern Cordillera to the border with Venezuela, although the western end...
, Casanare
Casanare Department
Casanare is a department of Colombia. It is in the central eastern region of the country. Its capital is Yopal. It contains oil fields and an 800 km pipeline leading to the coastal port of Coveñas owned by BP.-Municipalities:# Aguazul# Chameza...
, Santander
Santander Department
Santander is a department of Colombia. Santander inherited the name of one of the nine original states of the United States of Colombia. It is located in the central northern part of the country, east of the Magdalena River, bordered to the south and southeast by Boyacá, to the northeast by Norte...
and Northern Santander. Historically, they have also lived in what is now Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
.
Territory
The U'wa ancestral homeland, known as Kajka-Ika or Kera Chikara, lies in the Sierra Nevada del CocuySierra Nevada del Cocuy
The Sierra Nevada del Cocuy Chita o Guican National Natural Park The Sierra Nevada del Cocuy Chita o Guican National Natural Park The Sierra Nevada del Cocuy Chita o Guican National Natural Park (or Sierra Nevada de Chita or Sierra Nevada de Güicán, is a national park and a set of highlands within...
Mountains and covers more than 3 million acres (12,000 km²). The area includes the headwaters of the Orinoco River. Historically, substantial portions of their homeland have been protected from any human access.
The U'wa have been engaged in a major project of land recovery, expanding their recognized territory from 247,700 to 543,000 acre (1000 to 2200 km²) Unified Reserve (Resguardo Unido) in 1999.
Culture
The U'wa speak a language of the Chibchan familyChibchan languages
The Chibchan languages make up a language family indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian area, which extends from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia and includes populations of these countries as well as Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama...
called Uw Cuwa
Uw Cuwa
The U'wa language, Uw Cuwa, commonly known as Tunebo, is a Chibchan language spoken by between 1,800 and 3,600 of the U'wa people of Colombia, out of a total population of about 7,000.-Dialects:Dialects at the time of European contact, include –...
("people's tongue"). They have no written tradition and have passed down their knowledge and customs primarily through song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
.
Their religious tradition includes an obligation to gather in the summer months and "sing the world into being" as well as to maintain equilibrium between the layers of the world: earth, water, oil, mountains, and sky. Their identification of petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
, which they call Ruiria, with the blood of Mother Earth, stiffened their resolve in their conflict with oil corporations in the 1990s.
The U'wa consider non-U'wa to be impure, and place high importance on purification rituals
Ritual purification
Ritual purification is a feature of many religions. The aim of these rituals is to remove specifically defined uncleanliness prior to a particular type of activity, and especially prior to the worship of a deity...
, which makes interaction with outsiders difficult.
Institutions
Elder (administrative title)
The term Elder is used in several different countries and organizations to indicate a position of authority...
) and Karekas (medicine people) from each of the U'wa clans. The system of Cabildos mandated by the Colombian state includes and upper and lower council or Cabildo Mayor and Cabildo Menor, as well as the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Prosecutor and Speaker. Berito KuwarU'wa
Berito Kuwaru'wa
Berito Kuwaru'wa is a member of the Colombian U'wa people. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1998 for his role as spokesperson in conflicts between the U'wa people and the petroleum industry.-References:...
has served as president in recent years.
The U'wa have affiliated with the Guahibo people in the Association of Cabildos and Traditional Indigenous Authorities of the Department of Arauca (ASCATIDAR), officially founded in June 2003 to promote the local autonomy of the department's Indian peoples. The Association's president is Dario Tulivila, a Guahibo leader.