The Waroa Indians are located in South America and inhabit the labyrinthine arms of the Orinoco Delta of Northeastern Venezuela. They are fishermen and incipient agriculturists. ""Warao" is an auto denomination meaning "lowland people" or "marshland people" from WAHA, "lowland," and ARAO, "inhabitant people." "
Some interesting facts about the Waroa are what they often sell when trading. They sell handmade hammocks and huntting pets such as dogs, parrots and macaws. Also known as canoe people.
Kin Relations
Unlike in other cultures children aren't taught through formal instruction but rather by example. Both parents tend to show affection to infants but for the most part older siblings would be in charge of routine child's care of their younger siblings. Children aren't counted as a "human being" until about the age of 4.
There is a complete set of affinal kinship terms that structure social behavior inside the residence group. For marriage it is endogamous based one or more common ancestors. Divorce is infrequent. Often a prestigious head may take on a second wife by marrying his wife's brother's daughter, oftentimes polygynous marriages come about in a default when the sister of his wife becomes widowed.
Specific rights and duties are determined by affinal kinship (individuals who are related to you by marriage)
Generally a homestead consists of a man, his wife and their unmarried children. Parents expect their daughter's husbands to live close to them within their village and build a house for their daughter.
Each nuclear family possesses 2 or 3 gardens of their own. Husbands will clear the forests while the wife plants the roots and seeds. Nuclear families gather for the main meal; each wife prepares the food for her husband and children if one of the hunters has failed then those who have been successful proceed to distribute their meat and fish to the others. Which gives this cycle so that everyone is fed in the family. Kind of like when you go to your grandparents house and they always feed you.
Citations:
SUÁREZ, MARIA MATILDE. “TERMINOLOGY, ALLIANCE AND CHANGE IN WARAO SOCIETY.” Nieuwe West-Indische Gids / New West Indian Guide 48, no. 1 (1971): 56–122. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41970175.
Beierle, John, and Heinen H Dieter. “Warao.” Shibboleth authentication request. Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Vol. 7. 1994. Johannes Wilbert, ed. Boston, Mass.: G. K. Hall & Co, May 2000. https://ehrafworldcultures-yale-edu.northernkentuckyuniversity.idm.oclc.org/ehrafe/regionsCultures.do#region=7.
It was very interesting to read about the Waroa' kinship structures. You gave a detailed explanation of their marriage customs. Explaining how the wives in one family helps prepare the food for everyone, even those who could not find food, is very similar to our class discussion of redistribution and reciprocity. One question I would like to ask is why aren't children considered "human beings" until their 4 years old? Is it because they don't participate in gathering food until they reach that age or is it something else?
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DeleteJazmine, you did a very good job on this blog post. The culture that you are speaking about is very interesting. Woman in the culture you are speaking about are similar to women in the United States because many almost every woman prepares and cooks food for their families.
ReplyDeleteI love this topic! It was very interesting to read about the kinship structures. The explanations were really good as well. This topic is relatable to the US today by the roles women take or don't take with cooking.
ReplyDeleteHi Jazmine, I thought your blog about the kinship structure of the Waroa was really interesting and unique. Specifically the part where the children are not counted as "human beings" until the age of four. I also found it interesting that the older siblings take care of the younger ones. Your post ,topic and culture was really well done and organized in a great way. One connection is that your post states that divorce is infrequent and from my own cultures I have researched it is also less common.
ReplyDeleteJasmine, your blog post is a great introduction to Waroa Indians! I think the meaning behind their name is really cool. I also thought it was interesting how they don't consider children do be human beings until age 4. In our society, babies are considered human beings as soon as they have a heartbeat, so it is shocking that they view their children differently. I would like to learn more about that viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteGreat Job! Learning about the Warao Indians and their kin relations is super interesting. I also found it interesting that they don't consider babies human beings until the age of four. Something I realized is the women cook and prepare food for the family which is something we see in many other cultures as well.
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