Wari'
Encyclopedia
The Waricaca', also known as the Pakaa Nova, are an Amerindian nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...

 indigenous
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
The Indigenous peoples in Brazil comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country prior to the European invasion around 1500...

 to the Amazon rainforest
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...

. They are native to the state of Rondônia
Rondônia
Rondônia is a state in Brazil, located in the north-western part of the country. To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, and in the south is Bolivia. Its capital is Porto Velho. The state was named after Candido Rondon...

, 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...

 and were first seen by European settlers at the shores of the river Pakaa Nova, which is a right-bank-tributary of the Mamoré River. Europeans at one time used the name "Pakaa Nova" to refer to the Wari', because of the location where they first encountered each other. However, the people themselves prefer to be referred to by outsiders as "Wari'", a word in their language
Wari’ language
The Wari’ language is the sole remaining vibrant language of the Chapacuran language family of the Brazilian–Bolivian border region of the Amazon...

, which is part of the Chapacuran language family.

Population and location

Along with the Torá
TOra
TOra is a free software database development and administration GUI, available under the GNU General Public License. It features a PL/SQL debugger, an SQL worksheet with syntax highlighting, a database browser and a comprehensive set of database administration tools.In addition to Oracle Database...

, the Moré
More language
The Mossi language, Mòoré is one of two official regional languages of Burkina Faso, closely related and mutually intelligible with the Dagbani language spoken in northern Ghana...

 (or Itenes) and the Oro Win, the Wari' are the last of the Txapakura linguistic group. Other groups, such as the Urupá
Urupá
Urupá is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. Its population was 17,322 and its area is 832 km²....

 were exterminated by Europeans.

Up until the 19th century, the Wari' were present in the Amazon's Southeast, namely the basin of the Lage river (a right-bank-tributary river of the Mamoré River), the Ouro Preto river, the Gruta and Santo André creeks, the Negro river (all tributaries of the lower and middle courses of the right bank of the Pakaa Nova river), the Ribeirão river
Ribeirão River
-References:*...

 and the Novo river (tributaries of the left bank of the Pakaa Nova river).

In the early 20th century, continuous incursions by people of European descent in search of rubber trees forced the Wari' to relocate to the less accessible headwaters of the Mamoré River, to where they were confined until the pacification. Today, they live in eight settlements, located in five different Reservations within the state of Rondônia
Rondônia
Rondônia is a state in Brazil, located in the north-western part of the country. To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, and in the south is Bolivia. Its capital is Porto Velho. The state was named after Candido Rondon...

. Their present population is estimated in 1,930 individuals (1998 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

).

Denomination and ethnicity

The Wari' have no word that defines them as a group or race. The word "Wari'", which is used by outsiders in reference to them, has a few meanings. It is the pronoun for the first person plural inclusive: "we", but it can also be translated as "people" and "human being". Other tribes that live in the region have always referred to them using that term, and they prefer that outsiders observe it as well.

The tribe is divided into ethnic subgroups, but no word exists to define an individual that belongs to a different group, and the term usually applied is tatirim (stranger). A person from the same ethnic subgroup is referred to as "win ma" (land fellow).

Today, the Wari' subgroups are:
  • OroNao
  • OroEo
  • OroAt
  • OroMon
  • OroWaram
  • OroWaramXijein


Some individuals still identify themselves with two other subgroups that no longer exist, the OroJowin, or the OroKaoOroWaji. Oro is a collectivizing particle that can be translated as "people" or "group".

Relations between subgroups

Present relations between subgroups are still influenced by the dynamics that existed before the pacification (see below). Each subgroup is intimately connected to a territory, which consists of a set of areas, all identified by name, each inhabited by a "local group".

The frontiers between territories are fluid, since an area associated with one subgroup can be incorporated into the territory of another subgroup if it is occupied by a local group that belongs to another subgroup. That is made possible by the semi-nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...

 characteristic of the people (see below).

Membership to any given subgroup is also not defined by fixed rules. Children may be considered members of either parent's subgroup or of the subgroup associated with the territory in which they were born. Cultural or ethnic identities are not things one is born to, but rather constructed during a lifetime, through the relations with one's relatives and neighbors. The Wari' experience what could be defined as a "multiple identity", since different people classify any given individual differently.

Society

Every subgroup is organized around a set of brothers, each of whom is often married to a group of sisters. Polygyny
Polygyny
Polygyny is a form of marriage in which a man has two or more wives at the same time. In countries where the practice is illegal, the man is referred to as a bigamist or a polygamist...

, especially sororal polygyny, is the basis of Wari' family structure. Any village is made up of nuclear families and a separate house, called "the men's house", which serves as a dormitory for single adolescents and like as a meeting place for adults. A couple usually varies their place of residence, shifting between the woman's parents' and the man's parents', although no specific rule determines when the shift is made.

The Wari' are semi-nomadic, and their villages never remain in the same location longer than five years. They are, however, always located away from flooded areas but by the shores of small perennial rivers.

A maize swidden, whence the Wari' derive their staple crop, always surrounds the village. The location of ideal earth for corn growing (black earth or terra preta
Terra preta
Terra preta is a type of very dark, fertile anthropogenic soil found in the Amazon Basin. Terra preta owes its name to its very high charcoal content, and was indeed made by adding a mixture of charcoal, bone, and manure to the otherwise relatively infertile Amazonian soil, and stays there for...

) plays a key role in determining where to set up a village. The importance of agricultural land is also reflected in the language, since a person from the same subgroup is called "land fellow".

The Wari also practiced cannibalism, specifically morturary cannibalism. This is a form of endocannibalism, or the consumption of members of one's own society. This was done as a form of utmost respect to those who have passed.

Warfare

Currently, the Wari' are peaceful, but before the pacification they warred with neighboring tribes. Their most notable victories occurred over the Karipuna, a Tupi ethnicity, and the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau
Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau
The Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw are an indigenous people of Brazil, living in the state of Rondônia.They live in six villages on the borders of Terra Indigena Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw, which is shared by three sub-groups, the Amondawa, Jupaú, and Uru Pa In, as well as the Jurureí, Parakua, and two uncontacted tribes...

. With the European invasion in the early 20th century, the focus of their warfare shifted and they lost contact with the old wijam (enemy).

The Wari' consider enemies as "former Wari'" who have distanced themselves to the point of severing cultural exchanges. In spite of that, a Wari' warrior did not distinguish between an enemy and an animal, thus felt no need to be merciful or gracious to a human enemy any more than they would an animal. The bow and arrow was the primary weapon in Wari' warfare.

Once the battles were over, the Wari' warriors would bring home the bodies of the fallen enemies whenever possible. Those bodies would be served to the women and younger men who had stayed home, to strengthen the group. Those who had participated in the battle would retreat to the "men's house" and were subject to a quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....

, a period during which they would move around as little as possible, staying in their hammocks for most of the day and drinking only unfermented chicha
Chicha
For the musical genre, see Peruvian cumbiaChicha is a term used in some regions of Latin America for several varieties of fermented and non-fermented beverages, rather often to those derived from maize and similar non-alcoholic beverages...

. The purpose was to "keep the enemy's blood within the warrior's body", thus giving him strength. Intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...

 was also prohibited, as they expected the blood of the enemy to "turn into semen", thus allowing the strength of the enemy to pass on to their children in the future. The warrior was not allowed to partake of the fallen enemies, because it was believed that since he had kept the enemy's blood within himself, the act would be self-cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...

and result in the death of the warrior. Children were also prohibited from eating dead enemies. The quarantine would end when the women refused to continue preparing chicha.

Endocannibalism was also practiced within the Wari' tribe. Right after death, the closest relatives would hug and embrace the deceased person. The body would be left for three days, although there was no set span, then the body would be prepared respectfully, unlike the exocannibalism of the enemy. Their closest kin would not consume the body, but would urge their affines to eat. They would eat little tokens of flesh, in an attempt to overcome their grief at their loss.
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