The Wiwa live in the valleys of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Colombia, between Valledupar and Santa Marta. The bulk of the population lives on the southeast side of the mountains. They are the smallest of the three traditional Sierra tribes and are struggling to retain a separate identity.
The Wiwas have a very democratic system of governing. Once every few weeks, all the men in the area meet in the men's house and stay all night discussing and voting on all conflicts and ideas. Between these meetings, the Cabildes and Mamos (shamans) are in charge of carrying out the decisions.
The people always have two houses, one on their farmland where they live most of the time and one in the village where they stay during town meetings.
They always wear white, cotton clothes, and the men have long hair. It's really important to their cultural identity. They get rather offended if anyone suggests that they change either one of those parts of their appearance.
One thing to note is that only about 65% of the Wiwas speak the native language Damana, a fact that contributes to differing reports of total population figures.
The Malayo suffer from extreme poverty. Child malnutrition is a major problem. In addition, the Malayo are struggling to keep their land from encroachment of Spanish-speaking settlers. Education among the Malayo is almost non-existent.
Their beliefs contain a lot of animism and worship of nature. The "Ancient Mother" is the main deity and is something akin to Mother Earth. The shamans are called Mamos and are highly respected. They perform all kinds of rituals, from marriage ceremonies to rites of passage to divination. They are usually the leaders of the village.
The Wiwas are very poor. Malnutrition is a major problem among the children and medical care is usually at least a day's walk away. The child mortality rate is high. Settlers are encroaching on their land, and many have already been displaced because of violence. Education is very sparse and of poor quality. One of the reasons for this is that there is still no set alphabet to write their language (Damana). They have no part of Bible translated into their language as of yet and no missionary is currently working in their land.
Scripture Prayers for the Wiwa in Colombia.
Profile Source: Anonymous |
People Name General | Wiwa |
People Name in Country | Wiwa |
Pronunciation |
WEE-wah
|
Alternate Names | |
Population this Country | 19,000 |
Population all Countries | 19,000 |
Total Countries | 1 |
Indigenous | Yes |
Progress Scale | 1 ● |
Unreached | Yes |
Frontier People Group | No |
GSEC | 1 (per PeopleGroups.org) |
Pioneer Workers Needed | 1 |
People ID | 13448 |
ROP3 Code | 106167 |
ROP25 Code | 305032 |
ROP25 Name | Wiwa (Malayo) |
Country | Colombia | ||
Region | America, Latin | ||
Continent | South America | ||
10/40 Window | No | ||
National Bible Society | Website | ||
Persecution Rank | 22 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) | ||
Location in Country | Cesar and La Guajira departments: south and east slopes of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Source: Ethnologue 2016 |
Country | Colombia |
Region | America, Latin |
Continent | South America |
10/40 Window | No |
National Bible Society | Website |
Persecution Rank | 22 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) |
Location in Country | Cesar and La Guajira departments: south and east slopes of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.. Source: Ethnologue 2016 |
Primary Religion: | Ethnic Religions |
Major Religion ▲ | Percent |
---|---|
Buddhism |
0.00 %
|
Christianity (Evangelical 0.40 %) |
2.10 %
|
Ethnic Religions |
97.90 %
|
Hinduism |
0.00 %
|
Islam |
0.00 %
|
Non-Religious |
0.00 %
|
Other / Small |
0.00 %
|
Unknown |
0.00 %
|
Primary Language | Malayo (19,000 speakers) |
Language Code | mbp Ethnologue Listing |
Language Written | Unknown |
Total Languages | 1 |
Primary Language | Malayo (19,000 speakers) |
Language Code | mbp Ethnologue Listing |
Total Languages | 1 |
People Groups | Speaking Malayo |
Primary Language: Malayo
Bible Translation Status: Translation Started
Resource Type ▲ | Resource Name | Source |
---|---|---|
Audio Recordings | Audio Bible teaching | Global Recordings Network |
Photo Source | Anders1716 - Wikimedia Creative Commons |
Map Source | Bryan Nicholson / cartoMission |
Profile Source | Anonymous |
Data Sources | Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more. |