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Since colonial times, the name Baniwa has been used
to refer to all peoples who speak Arawakan languages who
live along the Içana River and its tributaries.
It should be emphasized, however, that the name is not
a self-designation. It is a generic name used by these
Indians to represent themselves in multiethnic contexts
or to the non-indigenous world. The term “Walimanai”
means "the other new generations who will be born"
and is a collective self-designation used in contrast
with the ancestors, “Waferinaipe”, the ancestors
who created and prepared the world for the living, their
descendants, the Walimanai of today. The Baniwa more frequently
use as collective self-designations the names of their
phratries such as Hohodene, Walipere-dakenai or Dzauinai.
The Kuripako, who live in Colombia and on the
upper Içana (Brazil), are related to the Baniwa
and speak a dialect of the Baniwa language, although
they do not identify themselves as a Baniwa subgroup.
The Kuripako live in communities along the Guainía
River (the name for the Rio Negro outside of Brazil,
above the junction with the Cassiaquiare Canal) and
its tributaries, and the upper Içana. In Venezuela,
they are called Wakuenai, a collective self-designation
that means “those of our language", and live
in communities along the Guainía River and its
tributaries. There is another group, called Baniva,
who speak a distinct Arawakan language, and who live
in the village of Marôa, on the Guainía.
Despite their having a specific identity, the
Kuripako are very similar to the Baniwa, such that the
information relative to the Baniwa in most items of
this section can, in large part, be extended to the
Kuripako.
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