Orinoco

Every three years, the De'aruwa (Piaroa) enact the Warime ceremony, which celebrates the creation of the universe and fertility. Men prepare the necessary costumes, masks, and musical instruments for the ritual dance in a structure away from women. The dancers cover their bodies in a dress made from palms and wear masks that represent animals in their mythology. Musical instruments are played that reproduce various animal sounds.

This eye-catching, ceremonial ornament for Ye'kuana men consists of a whittled piece of wood in the shape of the sacred bat, from which hang the skins of ten or more toucans (Ramphastos vitellinus). The bearer uses it in ceremonial dances, carrying it on his back, while wearing a necklace of peccary teeth (Tayassu pecari).

Hiwi (Guahibo) pottery is unique in its anthropomorphic design. It is decorated with geometric patterns using vegetable dyes. One of the recurring figures features arms, attached to waists, which serve as handles, and a small hat as a lid. The Hiwi also make pottery for daily use using the same coiled and smoothed clay technique and decoration.

This pot in the shape of a bird features a handle attached to the top, with a plugged aperture just behind the right of the bird’s head. It was made using the same smoothed coil technique as the anthropomorphic pot, and also decorated with vegetable dyes.

Guanas are percussion instruments made from hollow tree trunks of light wood by the Hïwi (also known as the Guahibo) for use in their festivities. The lower part is closed, and hitting them on the ground produces a dry tone. The “male” guana produces a lower tone than the “female.”

Shamanic maracas are not only musical instruments, but are invoked in discovering the cause of disease and its cure. Made with the empty shell of the taparo fruit (Crescentia cujete), and engraved with geometric patterns, they are crested with black feathers from the pauji (Pauxi pauxi) or other sacred birds. Magic crystals placed within create the sound.

Carved from a single piece of long-lasting hard wood, canaletes, or oars, are used to propel canoes. Although the Ye'kuana are considered masters of river navigation, other ethnic groups take advantage of the waterways to fish and to trade.

This type of trap is used for fishing in shallow, calm waters, and is constructed from mamure fiber (Heteropsis spruceana) or tirite (Ischosiphon aruma). Some are conical, with a handle. Others have a trumpet-like shape, with a narrow middle. This kind of fishing is practiced in combination with the use of the fish toxin barbasco (Tephrosia toxicaria) placed in the water to stun the fish for capture.

The cerbatana (blowpipe) consists of two wooden tubes, one inside the other. The interior tube, or kurata, is bamboo or reed, and the exterior tube is made from palmwood, with a wooden mouthpiece to blow the dart. The darts, whose points are usually poisoned with curare, are whittled bamboo. The blowpipe’s silence and potency make it ideal for small game.

These earrings, mainly used by the Ye'kuana, do not have a traditional origin. They are made from the aluminum found in plane crashes and shipwrecks that have occurred in the rain forests and rivers of the region.

Large, hard seeds are perforated and inserted with magical substances by the Shaman that protect against danger and disease and incorporated into necklaces, like this one, known as “guanare” necklaces.

The Yanomami have developed effective taxidermy techniques to create these colorful adornments.

The petaca is a small basket with two parts that fit into each other, used to store small, personal objects like fruits or tobacco. It is made of tirite fiber (Ischosiphon aruma) and usually decorated with geometric shapes or sacred animals like the snake, the frog or the monkey.

The guatura is a Yanomami basket used for carrying objects, made with dense braiding and ribbons of marima fibers for hauling. Decoration consists of simple and abstract patterns that sometimes represent sacred animals. Yanomami basketmaking is done by women, who use mamure to weave.

An elegant, ornamental basket by the Ye'kuana featuring frogs, monkeys and geometric patterns in its design.

Guapas are flat, round baskets in various diameters featuring geometrical and mythological designs. Not only ornamental, guapas are used to collect, store and dry food. The whirlwind pattern woven in this guapa evokes a spirit who uses a rainbow as a vehicle for travel and is accompanied by a snake that turns into a long-haired man (or "swamo").