E'ñepa

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The E'ñepa (also Panaré, Penare) are an ethnic group in Venezuela that belongs to the Orinoco-Parima cultures . The approximately 3,540 members (2001 census) live in the state of Bolívar about 250 km south of the city of Caicara del Orinoco west of the Rio Cuchivero .

Your Panare language is one of the North Caribbean languages .

economy

The E'ñepa mainly practice subsistence farming , in which harvesting, fishing and hunting are carried out. Above all, yuca and the fruits of the buriti and peach palms are harvested , and honey, ants and edible worms are also collected. The fishery has traditionally been done with barbasco , a toxic plant that is used to stun the fish and then collected, but it is also fished with lines and hooks acquired by creoles . Game such as tapirs or deer were traditionally hunted with spears, but rifles are now used.

The handicraft of basket weaving has a long tradition , which changed significantly through contact with the Ye'kuana in the 1960s. Braiding techniques of the Ye'kuana were adapted, which resulted in new approaches to design and new designs were developed. Hammocks and loincloths are made on simple looms .

art

In addition to basketry, which has been one of the main artistic expressions of the E'ñepa since the 1960s, body painting plays an important role. The body painting is not limited to certain phases of life or special circumstances, but is practiced throughout life in the context of ceremonies . The children's hands and feet are colored by their parents with various wooden stamps, young adults paint their bodies with red geometric figures, the paint for this is made from a mixture of anatto and animal fat.

dress

The E'ñepa wear loincloths woven from cotton and dyed with anatto. The apron is worn crossed between the legs and attached to the hip with a band of human hair, with tassels attached to the ends . Young E'ñepa also wear woven ribbons crossed over their chest and back. Unlike other indigenous peoples in the region, the E'ñepa do not change their traditional clothing for Western clothing when visiting Creole cities.

Creation myth of the E'ñepa

In the mythology of the E'ñepa, the world was created for them by the cultural hero Mareoka , who taught her how to make hammocks, blowpipes, bows and arrows, basket weaving, fluting and singing.

One day Mareoka visited the E'ñepa while they were celebrating the Katyayïnto ', the festival when boys are put on their first loincloth. Mareoka stayed and watched them until the party was over. He saw them dance. They were beautiful to look at with their red loincloths and their painted bodies. The next morning Mareoka wanted to mix the people and animals together. So it came about that some people became animals. He asked each one: what do you want to be? They said deer or tapir or armadillo. He taught her to be skillful and quick. The E'ñepa had dressed up from head to toe for the festival. Some were dyed red all over with Onoto and since they had also painted themselves with Genipa, their hands and face were very dark. These became howler monkeys; they still have red fur with black faces and black hands. The clever Cebus monkeys did not arise from Panare, but from whites. Mareoka turned the whites into monkeys when he was already tired. He no longer asked them what they wanted to be. They became monkeys and they are numerous. The whites know the monkeys well, they know they belong to the same family. The E'ñepa are right when they call the whites "monkeys".

Animals believed to be descendants of one of the common ancestors may not be eaten. These first ancestors lived in a place called Arewa , which is believed to be on a mountain at the source of the Rio Cuchivero and on the banks of the Orinoco . In the belief of the E'ñepa, Mareoko no longer exerts any influence on the world.

religion

The traditional religion of the E'ñepa is animistic , since all appearances of nature are considered to be animated. The medicine man called i'yan , who does not enjoy any special privileges, plays an important role in the practice . He is appointed after a self-directed formation when he is found capable of curing diseases and leading ceremonies.

The most important ceremonies take place at funerals and initiation rituals, which are traced back to Mareoka, but are also practiced in the context of hunting, fishing and important harvests. They include dancing, singing and enjoying fermented sugar cane or manioc . Initiation ceremonies take place with boys between the ages of ten and twelve, when they receive their first loincloth. Funeral ceremonies are designed to ensure that the souls of the deceased return to Arewa and do not molest the living.

initiation

The guayuco festival, the festival of the loincloth of the E'ñepa, is the maturity celebration of the 10 to 13-year-old boys among the E'ñepa as part of a complex festival cycle. It takes place every three to four years, extends over two to three months and includes a variety of solemn dances and acts. The cycle begins with the kaimo festival: the meat - kaimo - of the animals hunted on a long hunt is carried in large baskets to the community house and stored there in the beams. Chants are intoned to the animal spirits. In the next few weeks, large quantities of cassava are fermented as a cachiri drink and many casabe flatbreads are baked from cassava flour. During the festivities, the boys' nasal septum is pierced. The highlight of the festivities is the katyayïnto ', during which the initiates are solemnly put on the first loincloth by their godparents. This initiation into the adult world takes place with the E'ñepa only for the young men.

literature

  • Orinoco Parima. Indian societies from Venezuela. The Cisneros Collection. Publisher of the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany GmbH, Bonn. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern-Ruit 1999, ISBN 3-7757-0872-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ethnologue entry
  2. ↑ a b examples
  3. ↑ Press kit for the exhibition Orinoco – Parima. Indian societies from Venezuela. The Cisneros Collection. ( Memento of March 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) August 6, 1999 - February 27, 2000, Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany , Bonn, p. 22.
  4. ↑ Press kit for the exhibition Orinoco – Parima. Indian societies from Venezuela. The Cisneros Collection. ( Memento of March 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) August 6, 1999 - February 27, 2000, Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany , Bonn, p. 17.

Coordinates: 6 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  N , 66 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  W.