The Orinoco Delta, at the East side of Venezuela is one of the most desolate regions of the world. Here live one of the last originary amerindian tribes, inside the streams that conform a river that expands into the Atlantic Ocean: the Warao. The Warao have been inhabiting the Amacuro Delta territory for over 8000 years. They live in very similar conditions as they did during the period before the conquistadores. It is now when the warao culture has suffered a technological jump, within a relatively short amount of time. Barely any time to adapt from the Stone Age until the Modern Age. New technologies have been embeded into a hyper specialized environment where they have been evolving for centuries. The Warao tribes are extremely sensitive to the outdoor influence. Even if they are geographically isolated and profoundly adapted to an intrincate river net that conforms what is known as the Orinoco Delta. There are two fundamental facts that are strongly complicating their survival. A few independant investigations indicate that a range in between 40% and 80% of the Warao tribe are infected with HIV, whereas Venezuelan government does not support official numbers. On the other side, the high levels of infantile mortality are extreme. One out of two newly born does not reach the age of three. The lack of a united educational and reproductive sexual responsability plus the peculiarities of their cosmology, where illness representates the evil spirits, contributes to the creation of a potencially fatal scenario to the Warao tribe. The Warao, as it happens in other ethnic groupes, considers certain people to be in touch with their spiritual world. They act as intercesors in between the goods and the human beings. Taking shamanism into place, several anthropological studies show the figure of the “berdache” inside native american tribes. Individuals who deserved a special status and respect for their dual condition. The acceptance of the transgender community inside the warao tribe is a fact. Their inclusion goes back to the precolombian traditions mentioned above. Most of these beliefs which were common only have a century ago, have less chances of survival with the inclusion of Christianity and its diverse manifestations. They have slowly been devorating the foundations of this indigenous culture.
The Orinoco Delta, at the East side of Venezuela is one of the most desolate regions of the world. Here live one of the last originary amerindian tribes, inside the streams that conform a river that expands into the Atlantic Ocean: the Warao.
The Warao have been inhabiting the Amacuro Delta territory for over 8000 years. They live in very similar conditions as they did during the period before the conquistadores.
It is now when the warao culture has suffered a technological jump, within a relatively short amount of time. Barely any time to adapt from the Stone Age until the Modern Age. New technologies have been embeded into a hyper specialized environment where they have been evolving for centuries.
The Warao tribes are extremely sensitive to the outdoor influence. Even if they are geographically isolated and profoundly adapted to an intrincate river net that conforms what is known as the Orinoco Delta. There are two fundamental facts that are strongly complicating their survival. A few independant investigations indicate that a range in between 40% and 80% of the Warao tribe are infected with HIV, whereas Venezuelan government does not support official numbers. On the other side, the high levels of infantile mortality are extreme. One out of two newly born does not reach the age of three. The lack of a united educational and reproductive sexual responsability plus the peculiarities of their cosmology, where illness representates the evil spirits, contributes to the creation of a potencially fatal scenario to the Warao tribe.
The Warao, as it happens in other ethnic groupes, considers certain people to be in touch with their spiritual world. They act as intercesors in between the goods and the human beings. Taking shamanism into place, several anthropological studies show the figure of the “berdache†inside native american tribes. Individuals who deserved a special status and respect for their dual condition. The acceptance of the transgender community inside the warao tribe is a fact. Their inclusion goes back to the precolombian traditions mentioned above. Most of these beliefs which were common only have a century ago, have less chances of survival with the inclusion of Christianity and its diverse manifestations. They have slowly been devorating the foundations of this indigenous culture.