A Piaroa village put on a play this past Saturday evening, October 3, about their legend of the way the gods created humanity and the cassava gardens that they cultivate. The actors in the production were members of the village of Paria Grande, located in the municipality of Atures in… Continue reading…
El Universal, a major Venezuelan newspaper, published a feature last week on the reasons for the recent disruptions and threats to the Piaroa people south of the Orinoco River. The major reason, according to the paper, is coltan, which is now being mined in the area. “Coltan” is short for… Continue reading…
El Universal, a major Venezuelan newspaper, published a feature last week on the reasons for the recent disruptions and threats to the Piaroa people south of the Orinoco River. The major reason, according to the paper, is coltan, which is now being mined in the area. “Coltan” is short for… Continue reading…
Piaroa women, and their colleagues in surrounding communities, are becoming increasingly concerned about the violence that illegal miners and armed rebel gangs bring into their territories. The Organización de Mujeres Indígenas de Autana(OMIDA), a group based in the Amazonas State of Venezuela and composed primarily of Piaroa women, though with… Continue reading…
Last Thursday, Katiushka Borges uploaded to Youtube an effective video she produced about a Piaroa community and their upcoming huarime festival, to which visitors are cordially invited. Ms. Borges gives her email address and welcomes contacts from viewers who are thinking of attending. The video is clearly intended for a… Continue reading…
The Piaroa in Venezuela have been protesting earlier this year about the dangers of mining in their territory, but a different threat to their security has also arisen. A news story early in November and another last week report that the problem of guerilla violence has arisen in the borderlands… Continue reading…
Back in April, the Piaroa, and other Indian groups of southern Venezuela, issued a statement protesting a recent national mining policy that threatens their forest. News stories in the last few weeks indicated they are getting more insistent—they want to be heard. According to a report early last week, the… Continue reading…
The Piaroa, and the other indigenous groups in Venezuela, are speaking out in opposition to a national mining policy which they feel threatens their lives, their environments, and their cultural values. The Venezuelan Association for the Advancement of Science announced on its website last week that the Coordinadora de Organizaciones… Continue reading…
Since the Piaroa settled into permanent communities and stopped shifting their garden plots from one tract to another, the farms they established have tended to degrade the land and deplete the forests. The people in the village of Gavilán, Amazonas State, Venezuela, are working to improve the situation. The Small… Continue reading…
Carlos Morales Peña, assistant coordinator of OIPUS, is frustrated. The leader of the Piaroa organization has been trying for three years to get the government of Venezuela’s Amazonas state to respond to its requests for the demarcation of their lands in Autana municipality. The government does not answer. Last week… Continue reading…
