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For work on Wai Wai people

Basic History/Background/Location The Amerindian population of Guyana is approximately 31,000. The tribes consisting of seven major ethnic groups, including the Akawaios, Arekunas, Caribs, Makushis, Patamunas, Wapishanas, and the Wai-Wais are mainly found in the hinterland or the interior region. The Wai-Wais are the smallest tribe in Guyana with a population of only about 170. There is only one Wai Wai community in Guyana. It is located in the most southern region of the country known as Konashen.

Language The Carib-speaking Wai Wai Indians have close affinities to another Amazonian group known as the Arara. The Wai Wai have a history of intermarriage with other indigenous groups who speak similar languages. There are only 100 known speakers of the Wai Wai language.

First Contact with Wai Wai People Contact: The explorer, Sir Robert Schomburgk, may have been the first non- Indian to have contact with the Wai-Wai in December 1837. He found one village on a tributary of the Essiquebo river, along with two others on the Mapuera River in Brazil.

Schomburgk describes the Wai-Wai as: ''“Of medium height, their skin lighter than that of Tarumas, in their general appearance and language they resemble the Makuskis a good deal. The Woyawais are great hunters and celebrated for their dogs. In appearance they are generally dirty.”'' Migration

During the early 20th century, some of the Wai Wai in Brazil moved further north. It is speculated that this is because of the influenza epidemic that nearly exterminated the Taruma tribe. From 1933 to 1938, the Wai Wai people moved deeper in Guyana’s interior to avoid the outsiders working with the Boundary Commission.

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