Essay Culture Wayuu

Essay 1
Words: 941
Brainstorming
● Geography
● Culture
● Works
● Lifestyle
● Tradition (wedding, death…)
Similarities Differences
● The commerce ● Lenguage wayuunaiki

● The speaking Spanish ● Their beliefs
● Colombian people ● Geography
● Lifestyle
● Mythology
Wayuu culture in Colombia: Cultural iceberg
Although the Wayuu culture is part of Colombia. It has very differences in terms of
geography, it is a lifestyle, with traditions and own beliefs. Currently, there is still a cultural
shock among the population of the Colombian territory and many people are unaware of their
traditions and culture. In this essay will describe the own characteristics of this community
concerning the theory of Edward T. Hall's cultural iceberg theory Singanamalla (2022).
These contrasts are argued by talking about the external parts such as the lifestyle, language
and commerce and the internal part exposing a myth that demonstrates their conception of
the world and their beliefs.
The Wayuu are indigenous ethnicity that habits in the northeastern part of Colombia
on the Guajira peninsula. The traditional houses are made with materials such as wood and
mud; the roof is based on dry palm designed for the high temperatures of the desert climate.
A peculiarity of these is that they are a group of houses, where you can find the kitchen in an
external place and several meters away from the bedrooms. The main reason is that a few
families live in a ranchería (aunts, cousins, siblings, parents) and when they cook is usually in
big quantities, so the heat that is produced would be very strong and empowered by the high
temperatures of the desert area. The group of family homes is known as Rancherías. The
rancherías are very dispersed among them. Hence, to go from one to another they have to
walk long distances and with the lack of transport, they have to use bicycles, motorcycles or
donkeys. Added this community has limited access to basic services like water or food.
Following the model of the cultural iceberg, one of the external parts is the language.
The Wayuu culture has it is own language Wayuunaiki, that "has 600,000 speakers and,
however, is considered at risk of extinction" (Noticias ONU, 2019). It is very common for the
majority of the Wayúu to speak Spanish as well. Nevertheless, when they live in rancherias
normally communicate in their natal language indeed those that live in the city when they
visit their families since that living in the city have to adapt to the change to speaking Spanish
for the other people.
The currently lifestyle has certain similarities with the city people for example in
commerce. They have products such as handicrafts that they usually sell in the urban area of
La Guajira. In Riohacha a city in Colombia they are found mainly in the area of the first
avenue in front of the beach, which is an area very popular with tourists. The women exhibit
their handicrafts such as backpacks, hammocks, and jewelry. These are handmade by
themselves and in fact, it is very possible that you can see these women making new
handicrafts in this area. This demonstrates that the Wayúu culture has adopted the Alijunas
commerce as a similarity.
Nowadays, the inner part is about worldviews and myths. An example of this can be
that the word “Wayuu” means person. In this culture there is a word to identify people who
are not part of the community, these would be the "Alijunas", who were called white
(colonizers). For the Alijunas, there is no word that has this meaning or intention. Another
characteristic is that they have something called castes, which is similar to a surname but
groups together several families that share the same origin. This is how the clans are
distinguished from each other. For example, some castes are the Aapushana, the Ipuana, and
the Epieyu, among others.
Within the mythology of this culture we find various stories that relate from the origin
to the end according to their thoughts and beliefs. One of these myths is that of Jepirra, which
tells how paradise is. Zaurith (2017) mentions that all Wayuu thoughts have an origin and a
reason and that happens from the elders to the new generations through oral tradition. This is
very true since elders are considered sources of wisdom and leaders in taking decisions. One
of the most important myths is Jepirra, which explains a little bit about their beliefs. "El Cabo
de la vela '' is at the north of La Guajira, for the Wayuu this is a sacred territory therefore it is
the door through which people who die pass and where they go to rest in peace in paradise.
Thanks to the fact that they lead their own lifestyle, their conception of life and death
is also different from that of other cultures. Death is another important point that stands out in
the Wayuu culture. The Wayuu funeral would be considered a social event for all the
protocols. This has a series of rituals that must be followed by the family and friends of the
family and if they do not comply, the spirit of the person who died condemns them. The
symbolic act of holding a vigil is done twice. Firstly, when the body leaves the soul to live in
Jepirra (destination of the souls after death) and secondly when the body is exhumed this
usually happens in a range of 9 to 12 years.
The theory of the cultural iceberg is excellent to be allowed to research about
ingenious culture in Colombia. To divide an external and internal with the first-mentioned we
can see general aspects that can be noticed doing tourism and in the second one, we see the
values system and beliefs that influence the creation of this community. According to this
theory, it can be appreciated that this indigenous culture and the importance of having
knowledge of the Colombian territory.
References
Noticias ONU (2019, Marzo, 20). El wayuunaiki, una lengua con 600.000 hablantes
en riesgo de extinción. https://news.un.org/es/story/2019/03/1452751#:~:text=La%20lengua
%20materna%20de%20ese,considera%20en%20riesgo%20de%20extinci
%C3%B3n.&text=Los%20way%C3%BAu%20habitan%20en%20La,se%20les%20conoce
%20como%20guajiros
SINGANAMALL R. (2022, April, 07). Understanding The Iceberg Model of Culture

to Drive Organizational SuccessSuccess. Empulsa. https://blog.empuls.io/iceberg-model-of-
culture/amp/
Zaurith E. (2017, August, 31). Jepirra, la vida después de la muerte. Servindi.

https://www.servindi.org/actualidad-noticias/23/08/2017/jepira-la-vida-despues-de-la-muerte

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Essay 1

● The commerce ● Lenguage wayuunaiki

Wayuu culture in Colombia: Cultural iceberg

SINGANAMALL R. (2022, April, 07). Understanding The Iceberg Model of Culture

Zaurith E. (2017, August, 31). Jepirra, la vida después de la muerte. Servindi.

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