The Wai-wai are an ethnic group of Guyana

Guyana

Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...

 and northern Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

.

The Wai-wai in Guyana live in the far south of the country, near the headwaters of the Essequibo River

Essequibo River

The Esequibo River is the largest river in Guyana, and the largest river between the Orinoco and Amazon. Rising in the Acarai Mountains near the Brazil-Guyana border, the Essequibo flows to the north for 1,010 km through forest and savanna into the Atlantic Ocean.-Geography:There are countless...

. There are approximately 200 Wai-wai in Guyana and 2000 in Brazil. In Brazil, they mostly reside in Terra Indígena Wai-wai, Terra Indígena Trombetas-Mapuera and Terra Indígena Nhamundá-Mapuera.

The Umana Yana

Umana Yana

The Umana Yana is a conical palm thatched hut erected for the Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference in Guyana in August 1972 as a V.I.P...

 in Georgetown, Guyana

Georgetown, Guyana

Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...

, takes its name from the Wai-Wai for "meeting place".

Religion

The yaskomo of the Waiwai, also called a medicine man

Medicine man

"Medicine man" or "Medicine woman" are English terms used to describe traditional healers and spiritual leaders among Native American and other indigenous or aboriginal peoples...

 or shaman in literature, is believed to be able to perform a soul flight. The soul flight can serve several functions:

• healing
• flying to the sky to consult cosmological beings (the moon or the brother of the moon) to get a name for a new-born baby
• flying to the cave of peccaries' mountains to ask the father of peccaries for abundance of game
• flying deep down in a river, to achieve the help of other beings.

Thus, a yaskomo is believed to be able to reach sky, earth, water, in short, every element.

External links

• Wai Wai language dictionary online from IDS (select simple or advanced browsing)