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Hands Around the World |
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Hands Around the World |
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Indian Cultures from Around the World
Piaroa (Kuakua, Guagua, Quaqua): 12,000 including 130 Maco (1987 UBS); 80 in Colombia (1991 Adelaar). Venezuela: South bank of the Orinoco River, inland from the Paguasa River to Manipiari, Amazonas (Map). Large but inaccessible area. Colombia: Near the Sáliba.
Dialects: Maco (Mako, Itoto), Piaroa. 'Ature' (Adole) may be an alternate name. Possibly 50% of the men are bilingual in Maquiritare, Yabarana, or Spanish.
The Piaroa (Pee-ah-row-ah) Tribe lives in the Amazon rain forest of Venezuela. Their mode of transportation is by the bongo, a form of dugout canoe with which they navigate the tributaries of the Amazon.
All photos property of Hands Around the World. except as noted.
For the pictures below with blue border, click on the thumbnail for a full-size picture,
then click the top-left BACK button to return.
Piaroa Villiage - 2006
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Piaroa Indian with members of the Hands Around the World staff.
Piaroa children - photos by Mary Lou Walbergh - 2006
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This blow gun is fully functional and measures 34 inches long. It is covered with a woven palm leaf. The quiver is also made of woven palm leaves. The ends of the darts are finished with natural cotton or fiber from the kapok tree.
Piaroa shaman Ricardo Caballero - 2006
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Piaroa shaman Ricardo Caballero - photos by Mary Lou Walbergh - 2006
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Piaroa shaman - photos by Mary Lou Walbergh - 2006
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Piaroa shamen - 2006
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Piaroa hunting with blowgun - 2006.
Piaroa roasting tarantula to eat - 2006.
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This ceremonial figure below depicts a participant in a yearly "cleansing" ceremony in which the participants are completely covered with masks and costumes in order to hide their identity. During the ceremony, all things of importance done by members of the tribe, good and bad, from small kindnesses to infidelity, are called out for all to hear. The tribe listens quietly and considers all deeds to be either honored or cleansed. The Piaroa make their costumes, masks, and figures with natural fibers, reeds, bark, and vegetable dyes found in the rain forest. The faces of the masks are formed with beeswax, then painted using dyes. The base of the masks or helmets are a basket form which is then covered with a pliable bark-like substance which in turn is covered with the beeswax. The costumes and ceremonial figures depict the various mythological creatures taking part in the ceremony. The figure is eight inches tall.
The Piaroa Indian tribe is very traditional in its celebrations and dancing. The masks and figures below are made for the Warime dance which is a yearly cleansing ceremony as well as an initiation ceremony for young men. Participants cover themselves totally in bark or fiber costumes with masks that represent animal or mythological spirits. The masks are intricately made with a basket form which is then covered in beeswax molded to the characters they wish. Details are painted in clay and a fiber or bark fringe is added. Small masks are worn on the hands like puppets. Mask making is done only by men. A special hut is built in which the men make the masks in the weeks preceding the ceremony. The process is guarded from the women of the tribe. Only a few Piaroa are still mask makers.
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"Spirit of the Woods" mask measures 30" from the top to the bottom of the fiber. The face measures 4 1/2" x 4". |
"Monkey" mask measures 30" from the top to the bottom of the fiber. The face measures 5 1/2" x 5". |
"Monkey" mask measures 18" from the top to the bottom of the fiber. The face measures 3 inches in diameter. |
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| "Spirit of the Woods" mask measures 26" from the top to the bottom of the fiber. The face measures 5 1/2" x 5". | "Capuchin Monkey" mask measures 27" from the top to the bottom of the fiber. The face measures 7" x 9". |
These figures are made of palm bark cloth with heads made using the same techniques as used for the masks. They represent the dancers in the Warime ceremony.
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| Warime ceremony "Monkey" dancer figure. 9" tall. | Warime ceremony "Spirit of the Woods" dancer figure. 9" tall. |
The Piaroa also make a variety of musical instruments. They make rattles especially for the Huirame ceremony as well as other rituals and ceremonies throughout the year. This basket rattle is called morocoto. Morocoto means big fish. When it is shaken it sounds like a fish thrashing inside a fish trap basket. The morocoto is made only for the Huirame ceremony and is used that one time of year by the dancers in the ceremony. It is a basket shape with seed pods inside.
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| 9" x 8" |
These sacred Piaroa shamans rattles are made of calabash that has been engraved with designs while still green. They are trimmed with large feathers of the black currassow and colorful feathers of parrots and other tropical birds. They are filled with seeds and magical crystals called wanali stones.
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| 16" tall | 16 1/2" tall |
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| 10" to 12" etched Piaroa rattles | 17" tall |
The Piaroa collect the light-weight Balsa wood native to the rain forest to carve their sculptures. All sculptures are hand-carved and hand-decorated with natural dyes from plants also gathered in the rain forests. Birds, animals and figures from their mythology play an integral part in their art.
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| Balsa wood turtles average 6" long. |
The Piaroa are very artistic and make many traditional crafts including necklaces made of seeds and beads, often with bones or teeth of rainforest animals as well.
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Seeds, beads, and a caiman tooth. 15 1/2" in length. |
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Seeds, snake vertebrae, and anteater claw. 19" in length. |
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Seeds, snake vertebrae, and tapir tusk. 19" in length. |
Featured Artist
Jose Rodriguez is a Curripaco (Koo-ree-pac-oh) Indian living in the village of Agua Blanca in the Amazon Basin. The Curripacos are a branch of the Piaroa Indians. He is a very talented artist who carves small jungle birds that can be strung together. He carves them from light-weight balsa wood. Jose was so excited that we had bought all his birds and would buy more that he promptly named our area guide, Julio, his infant son's godfather!
Additional Information
The Yutaje Camp in the Amazonas State of Venezuela
Mosquitas polinizadoras (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) del cacao colectadas en comunidades Piaroa en Amazonas, Venezuela.
Piaroa ( Kuakua, Guagua, Quaqua ) Spoken on the south bank of Orinoco River.
Venezuela/Planeta.com - A growing problem in Amazonas has been the explosive growth of "ecotourism" ventures.
Straight to the Heart of the Matter - The second story came from a group of Piaroa shamans whom I met in June 2001 in the Amazon region of Venezuela.
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