Overview

The Warao are an Indigenous people whose principal homeland is the vast delta of the Orinoco River in northern South America.

Their main territory lies in what is now Delta Amacuro State in northeastern Venezuela. The Orinoco Delta contains countless rivers, channels, wetlands, mangrove forests, and forests where several species of palm grow.

The Warao developed ways of life suited to this watery environment by combining canoe travel, fishing, the use of plants such as the moriche palm, hunting, farming, basketry, and hammock making.

For this reason, the Warao are often described as the “people of the canoe” or the “people of the water.”

However, not all Warao people today live the same way in houses built over the water.

Some live in riverside communities in the delta, while others live in settlements on dry land, in Tucupita and other Venezuelan cities, or in communities formed through migration to Brazil, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and elsewhere.

Their present-day occupations are also diverse. Warao people work as teachers, healthcare workers, interpreters, public employees, artisans, traders, construction workers, fishers, and farmers, among many other professions.

The Warao are not an isolated “water people” living outside modern society.

Throughout their long history, they have experienced trade, missionary activity, government policies, environmental transformation, urbanization, and migration across national borders. At the same time, they continue to pass their language, family relationships, knowledge of rivers, craft traditions, and stories on to future generations.

Homeland and Regional Communities

The Orinoco Delta

The Orinoco is one of South America’s major rivers. It flows through eastern Venezuela before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.

Near its mouth, the river divides into numerous branches and waterways, forming an enormous delta.

In Spanish, many of the smaller rivers and channels of the delta are called caños. These waterways also serve as routes connecting Warao settlements, fishing grounds, plant-gathering areas, towns, and the homes of relatives.

Water levels change according to the rainy and dry seasons, as well as the tides. Salinity, soil conditions, vegetation, and fish species also vary from one area to another.

The Orinoco Delta therefore cannot be described as a single, uniform wetland.

Warao ways of life also differ between freshwater areas, brackish zones, coastal environments, and areas with relatively dry land.

The Upper, Central, and Lower Delta

The Orinoco Delta is sometimes described in terms of the upper, central, and lower delta.

The upper delta lies farther inland and includes areas with comparatively dry land suitable for farming. Some settlements in this area are also closer to Tucupita and the road network.

The central delta contains extensive rivers and wetlands. In many communities, canoe transportation, fishing, and the use of palm and forest resources remain important.

The lower delta is closer to the Atlantic Ocean and is more strongly affected by tides and saltwater. Some communities in this area are closely connected to coastal fishing and mangrove environments.

These are geographic and environmental categories, not fixed ethnic divisions.

The Warao are not divided into three entirely separate peoples. Families have also maintained connections between different parts of the delta through migration, marriage, trade, and employment.

Areas Outside Delta Amacuro

Most of the Warao population has historically lived in Delta Amacuro State, but communities are also found in the neighboring states of Monagas, Sucre, and Bolívar.

In Monagas, Warao people live not only in wetlands and river areas near the delta but also around cities such as Maturín.

In Bolívar State, Warao families have moved to Ciudad Guayana, San Félix, and other communities along the Orinoco River.

People move for many different reasons, including education, healthcare, employment, the sale of crafts, family reunification, flooding, and environmental change.

Guyana and Suriname

Warao-speaking communities have been documented not only in Venezuela but also in Guyana and Suriname.

In northwestern Guyana in particular, Warao families and communities have maintained connections with the Venezuelan side of the delta since before the modern international border was established.

Warao patterns of movement and kinship cannot be understood entirely through the borders of modern nation-states.

At the same time, Warao people living across these borders do not all have the same nationality, legal status, education system, or language environment.

Spanish is widely used in Venezuela, while Warao communities in Guyana may also use English or Guyanese Creole. In Suriname, Dutch and other regional languages may be used alongside Warao. Glottolog’s information on the geographic distribution of Warao

Urban and International Communities

Movement to urban areas gradually increased during the second half of the twentieth century.

Within Venezuela, Warao families and communities can now be found in Tucupita, Maturín, Ciudad Guayana, Caracas, and other towns and cities.

Since the 2010s, Venezuela’s economic and social crisis has also contributed to increased migration to Brazil, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and other destinations.

In Brazil, Warao communities have formed not only in the border state of Roraima but also in Amazonas, Pará, and numerous cities elsewhere in the country.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported that approximately 7,000 Warao people were living in Brazil in 2022. This was an estimate for that particular period and should not be treated as the current population of the Warao worldwide. UNHCR’s report on Warao communities in Brazil

Population Statistics

Venezuela’s 2011 national census recorded 48,771 people as Warao.

In that census, the Warao were the second-largest Indigenous people in Venezuela after the Wayuu. Most lived in Delta Amacuro State, although communities were also recorded in Monagas, Sucre, Bolívar, and other areas. PROVEA’s information on the Warao population of Venezuela

Since 2011, however, migration to Venezuelan cities and neighboring countries has increased substantially.

The 2011 figures therefore cannot be used as an exact description of the Warao’s current geographic distribution.

The number of people who identify as Warao is also not the same as the number of people who speak the Warao language.

About the Name

Warao is a name used by the people themselves.

In older English and Spanish sources, the name also appears in forms such as Guarao, Guarauno, Warrau, and Warau.

Today, Warao is the spelling most widely used for both the people and their language.

The name Warao is commonly explained as meaning “people of the canoe” or “boat people.”

According to this interpretation, the name is connected to wa, meaning canoe, and arao, referring to people.

Other interpretations connect the name with the meanings “people of the lowlands” or “people of the shallow waters.”

Because pronunciation differs by region and scholars have proposed more than one etymology, the meaning of Warao cannot be established entirely through a single interpretation.

The explanation “people of the canoe” reflects the deep relationship between Warao culture and the river. It does not mean that every Warao person today lives entirely by traveling in a canoe.

Linglobe uses “Warao People” as the page title because Warao is both a self-designation and the name most widely used today.

History and Roots

Before European Contact

The ancestors of the Warao lived in and around the Orinoco Delta long before Europeans arrived in South America.

Living in the delta required the use of several different environments, including wetlands, rivers, coastal areas, forests, and palm-rich landscapes.

People combined fishing, hunting, the collection of shellfish and crustaceans, the use of wild plants, palm management, and farming.

Some archaeologists and anthropologists have suggested that people who may have been related to the Warao were living near the mouth of the Orinoco several thousand years ago.

However, wood, plant fibers, houses, and other materials are difficult to preserve in the hot and humid conditions of the delta. It is therefore not easy to establish a direct connection between ancient archaeological remains and present-day Warao communities.

It would be inaccurate to claim that Warao culture has remained completely unchanged for 7,000 years.

A long history and a history of cultural change are not contradictory. Ethnobotanical research on the Warao and the Orinoco Delta

Contact with Europeans

European navigators began recording the mouth of the Orinoco and the surrounding coast in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

Spanish colonial forces, missionaries, and merchants later entered the delta.

The Warao also traded through the Guianas and the Caribbean with merchants from other European powers, including the Dutch.

They exchanged food, canoes, forest products, and labor for metal tools, cloth, containers, and other imported goods.

The extensive wetlands and dispersed settlements of the Orinoco Delta made it difficult for colonial authorities to maintain continuous control over the entire region.

This did not mean, however, that the Warao were unaffected by the outside world.

Introduced diseases, missionary activity, trade, abduction, forced labor, and the colonization of surrounding areas all affected Warao population patterns, movement, family relationships, and livelihoods.

Missions, Trade, and Labor

From the colonial period into the nineteenth century, missionaries attempted to gather Warao people around churches and mission settlements.

Missionary influence did not spread evenly throughout the entire delta. Some communities developed close relationships with mission settlements, while others continued living in more distant waterways and wetlands.

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, rubber, timber, balata, and other forest products were commercially extracted from the delta and neighboring regions.

Warao people participated in trade and wage labor, but some were also subjected to debt-based labor systems and unequal trading relationships.

Adopting outside materials and tools did not mean that Warao culture disappeared.

People incorporated new materials and technologies while maintaining their knowledge of rivers, family cooperation, canoe building, fishing, and plant use.

Twentieth-Century Missions and Settlement Policies

During the twentieth century, Catholic missions, schools, medical facilities, and government institutions expanded their activities in the delta.

Schools, churches, and clinics were established around mission settlements. This created new opportunities to obtain education and healthcare, but it also encouraged people to concentrate in particular settlements, sometimes changing earlier patterns of movement and subsistence.

Spanish became the principal language of formal education, and Warao-speaking children were not always able to learn through their own language.

Some families adopted Christianity, others maintained Warao ceremonial practices and understandings of the world, and some combined elements from both traditions.

The religious and ceremonial lives of the Warao today therefore cannot be described as a single uniform system.

The 1966 Closure of Caño Mánamo

One of the events that had the greatest impact on twentieth-century Warao history was the closure of Caño Mánamo.

Caño Mánamo is one of the major waterways in the western Orinoco Delta.

In 1966, a dike and control structure were built across the Mánamo as part of a development project intended to reduce flooding and expand land for farming and cattle raising.

The project reduced flooding around Tucupita, but it also decreased the amount of freshwater flowing downstream.

Tidal and saltwater influence increased. In some areas, this contributed to rising salinity, soil acidification, changes in fish and vegetation, and reduced access to safe drinking water.

Fishing, farming, and plant gathering became more difficult, and some Warao families moved to other parts of the delta or to urban areas.

The project demonstrates how treating the delta simply as land to be developed can affect the food, water, health, and culture of the people who live there. JICA’s environmental study of the Orinoco Delta

From the Late Twentieth Century to the Present

As roads, boat transportation, schools, medical facilities, commerce, petroleum-related industries, and government services expanded, relationships between Warao communities and urban areas also grew.

More people began selling fish and crafts, working on farms and construction sites, attending schools, and participating in public administration and education.

At the same time, environmental change, limited access to healthcare and education, infectious disease, nutritional problems, discrimination, and insufficient employment have created instability in some communities.

Since the 2010s, Venezuela’s economic and social crisis has led many Warao people to migrate to Brazil and other neighboring countries.

Cross-border migration can require interpretation between Warao, Spanish, and Portuguese. It also creates situations in which Indigenous rights overlap with the legal systems governing refugees and migrants.

Culture

Families, Settlements, and Mutual Support

Family and kinship are central to Warao social life.

In traditional settlements, several households connected by close kinship may live together along the same river or channel.

Fishing, food processing, canoe building, house construction, childcare, and support for people who are ill have often depended on cooperation among relatives.

Ethnographic studies of some communities have documented a tendency for married couples to live near the wife’s family. Her parents and maternal relatives may help support the new household.

This should not, however, be presented as a fixed matrilineal system shared by every Warao community.

Marriage, residence, and household composition differ according to location, religion, urbanization, and individual circumstances.

Today, members of a single family may be divided between a settlement in the delta, a Venezuelan city, and a community in Brazil.

Telephone calls, online messages, financial assistance, and visits are now also used to maintain family connections.

Rivers, Canoes, and Navigation

For the Warao, rivers are more than part of the surrounding scenery.

They are roads, fishing grounds, sources of food, routes between settlements, and environments whose seasonal and tidal patterns must be understood.

One of the best-known Warao watercraft is the curiara, a dugout canoe.

A traditional curiara is carved from the trunk of a large tree. Canoes vary in size according to their purpose, from small craft carrying one or two people to larger vessels used to transport families and cargo.

Keeping a canoe stable and navigating currents and tides requires knowledge of water depth, wind, floating debris, fish movements, and changing conditions.

Children in riverside communities may gradually learn paddling and river safety by traveling with their families.

Outboard motors are also widely used today.

Warao navigation culture is therefore not limited to historical wooden canoes. New technologies have been incorporated while knowledge of the river continues to be passed between generations.

Houses

A traditional Warao house is known as a janoko.

Janoko built along rivers and wetlands may have floors raised on wooden posts to protect the living space from rising water and damp ground.

This type of raised house is also known in Spanish as a palafito.

Leaves from the temiche palm and other plants have traditionally been used for roofing. Some traditional houses have few walls, allowing air to circulate and relatives to move easily between living spaces.

A canoe landing may be located beside the house, while fishing equipment, baskets, cooking utensils, and hammocks are kept inside or nearby.

Not every Warao person lives in the same type of raised house.

Today, Warao housing includes wooden plank and corrugated metal houses, government- or aid-funded housing, settlements on dry land, urban apartments, and temporary accommodation in migrant communities.

Fishing, Gathering, and Farming

Fish have long played an important role in Warao food systems.

Hooks, nets, traps, harpoons, and other equipment may be used according to local river and coastal conditions.

Fish species and fishing methods change with the season, water level, tides, and the distinction between freshwater and saltwater environments.

Crabs, shrimp, shellfish, and other aquatic foods are also used in some areas. Forests and wetlands have provided fruit, palm shoots, honey, and wild animals.

Farming is also part of Warao life.

Crops include cassava, ocumo, sweet potatoes, bananas, plantains, and maize.

However, extensive wetlands and saltwater influence limit the amount of land suitable for farming in some parts of the delta.

As a result, some communities rely primarily on fishing, others combine farming and fishing, and still others depend more heavily on food purchased in towns.

The Moriche Palm and Food Culture

The moriche palm is an important plant for understanding Warao culture in the Orinoco Delta.

Its scientific name is Mauritia flexuosa, and it is a large palm that grows in wetland environments.

Its fruit can be eaten, while starch from the interior of the trunk has also traditionally been processed as food.

To extract the starch, the interior of the trunk is broken into small pieces, washed with water, and separated from the fibrous material. The resulting starch can then be baked or boiled.

Fibers from the leaves and leaf stalks are used to make hammocks, baskets, ropes, and bags. Insect larvae may also be collected from decaying trunks as food.

The moriche is therefore more than a source of wild food.

It is connected to food preparation, housing, craft production, transportation, and cooperative family labor.

Modern Warao diets, however, do not depend entirely on the moriche palm.

Fish, cassava, rice, maize, plantains, canned food, bread, sugar, cooking oil, and other locally produced or purchased foods are also consumed.

Hammocks, Baskets, and Craftwork

Hammocks and baskets are among the best-known forms of Warao craftwork.

Fibers obtained from the moriche palm and other plants are washed, dried, and processed into thread or cord.

Hammocks are used as beds, but they also make efficient use of limited space inside a house.

Plant materials are also used to make baskets, trays, bags, containers, and fishing equipment.

Wood is used for canoes, paddles, tools, and carvings representing people and animals.

These objects were originally made for the daily needs of families.

Today, they may also be sold in towns and tourist markets, providing income for households.

Warao crafts should not be understood only as souvenirs. They combine botanical knowledge, material processing, construction techniques, and the transmission of skills within families.

Music, Stories, and the Transmission of Knowledge

Warao culture has a strong oral tradition in which knowledge is transmitted through stories, songs, spoken narratives, and ceremonies.

Stories may include animals, rivers, forests, ancestors, nonhuman beings, illness, and the origins of food.

They provide entertainment, but they can also teach listeners about dangerous places, appropriate conduct, family relationships, and ways of living with the environment.

Music may include singing, rattles, drums, and flutes.

Songs connected with ceremonies or healing may require specialized knowledge and are not performed in the same way by everyone.

Today, stories and songs are also being documented through schools, cultural organizations, recordings, video, and educational materials written in Warao.

Flags and Symbols

No single official ethnic flag representing all Warao communities worldwide has been confirmed.

Various flags used by particular organizations, communities, or political movements may be presented online as a “Warao flag.”

These designs should not automatically be treated as a flag representing every Warao person.

The flag of Venezuela and the flag of Delta Amacuro State also do not represent the Warao alone.

Several elements can visually represent aspects of Warao culture. None of them, however, is an official emblem of the entire people.

The Curiara

The curiara is a dugout canoe that has supported transportation, fishing, trade, and visits between relatives.

It represents knowledge of rivers, the selection of suitable wood, canoe-building skills, and intergenerational learning.

The Moriche Palm

The moriche palm has been used for food, fiber, hammocks, baskets, and rope.

It represents the connection between the wetland environment and human life.

A single image of a moriche palm should not, however, be presented as the official emblem of the Warao people.

The Waterways of the Orinoco Delta

The rivers and channels of the delta are routes connecting settlements, relatives, fishing grounds, and towns.

For the Warao, the delta is not merely a natural landscape. It is a homeland connected to place names, memories, and practical knowledge.

The Janoko and the Hammock

The raised janoko and the hammock reflect ways of living adapted to moisture, flooding, and the need for ventilation in the delta.

At the same time, these objects should not be used to suggest that all Warao people live an unchanged traditional life over the water.

Language

Warao is generally classified as a language isolate, meaning that no genealogical relationship with another language has been conclusively demonstrated.

It is not a dialect of Spanish, Portuguese, or English. It is an Indigenous language with its own vocabulary, sound system, and grammar.

Some researchers have proposed connections between Warao and other South American languages, but no such relationship has gained broad scholarly acceptance.

It is therefore inappropriate to classify Warao simply as a member of either the Arawakan or Cariban language families. Glottolog’s classification of Warao

Number of Speakers

An estimate based on 2011 data placed the number of Warao speakers in Venezuela at approximately 36,000. Translators without Borders’ language information for Venezuela

This figure does not represent the total ethnic Warao population.

Some people identify as Warao while speaking mainly Spanish. Others use both Warao and Spanish, while migrants may also learn Portuguese, English, or another language.

In some regions, however, Warao continues to be used daily by community members of all ages, including children.

The language therefore should not be described either as a language that is no longer spoken or as a language that is equally secure in every community.

Grammatical Characteristics

Warao uses suffixes and other grammatical elements to express information such as person, number, tense, direction, and relationships.

A single Warao word may contain information that would require several separate words in English or Spanish.

Warao is also known for analyses identifying object–subject–verb, or OSV, as a basic word order.

Actual word order can vary according to emphasis, information structure, and sentence type.

It would therefore be inaccurate to claim that every Warao sentence must always follow the OSV pattern. Research on word order in Warao

Legal Status

The Constitution of Venezuela establishes Spanish as the country’s official language while also recognizing Indigenous languages as official languages for their respective peoples.

It states that Indigenous languages should be respected as part of the cultural heritage of Venezuela and humanity. The Constitution of Venezuela published by the Organization of American States

Legal recognition does not necessarily mean that Warao can always be used in public administration, healthcare, courts, and schools.

Some areas lack Warao-speaking teachers, healthcare workers, interpreters, and educational materials.

Writing and Education

Warao has a long oral tradition.

Today, it is written with the Latin alphabet and has been used in dictionaries, grammatical studies, Bible translations, schoolbooks, health information, and collections of stories.

Venezuela formally supports intercultural bilingual education, through which Indigenous children should be able to learn in both their own language and Spanish.

In practice, however, the availability of teachers and educational materials differs from one region to another.

For Warao children who have migrated to Brazil, education may involve three languages: Warao, Spanish, and Portuguese.

In some parts of Brazil, Warao teachers and community representatives have called for educational programs suited to Warao language, migration experiences, and ways of learning. UNICEF’s information on the educational rights of Warao children

Language Transmission and Migration

In some delta communities, Warao continues to be transmitted as the everyday language of the home and community.

In urban areas, however, Spanish is often used more frequently in schools, workplaces, government offices, and medical facilities.

Warao communities in Brazil also interact with Portuguese, while those in Guyana may use English or Creole.

Migration can weaken intergenerational language transmission, but it can also bring together Warao people from different regions who use Warao as a shared community language.

Warao teachers, interpreters, cultural mediators, and health workers use the language to connect public institutions with Warao communities.

Basic Expressions

Yakera is a greeting similar to “hello.”

Depending on the context, it may also express meanings similar to “good” or “thank you.”

Yakera yarokotu has been introduced as an expression meaning “welcome.”

Warao has regional and individual variation.

These expressions should therefore not be presented as the only forms with exactly the same pronunciation and meaning in every Warao community. UNICEF’s information on the use of Warao in community programs

Traditional Games and Physical Activities

In Warao culture, work, transportation, children’s play, and physical skills have not always been divided into completely separate categories.

Paddling, swimming, and fishing are practical skills that may also become forms of play or friendly competition.

However, there is no single standardized “national sport” practiced under the same rules by every Warao community.

Canoe Skills and Racing

Moving a canoe in a straight line, turning within a narrow channel, and responding to currents and tides require considerable skill.
Children may learn how to use a paddle, enter and leave a canoe, position cargo, and remain safe on the water while traveling with relatives.
Activities in which participants compare canoe speed or handling ability may be held during cultural or school events.
Distances, canoe sizes, participants, and rules vary according to the community and occasion.
Such events should not be described as an ancient standardized sport historically practiced under identical rules by all Warao people.

Swimming and River Playv

In riverside communities, swimming and movement in the water may be part of everyday life.
Under adult supervision, children may swim, jump into the water, or practice handling small canoes.
These activities can teach more than physical ability. They can also help children understand water depth, currents, tides, and environmental dangers.
Not every Warao person, however, learns to swim or use a canoe from an early age. This is particularly true for children raised in cities or settlements on dry land.

Learning Fishing Skills

Fishing with hooks, nets, traps, or harpoons is primarily a practical way of obtaining food.
Using equipment accurately, locating fish, and selecting the appropriate time require experience.
Young people may imitate adults or practice with smaller equipment, but these activities should not be treated simply as recreational games.
Fishing is connected to food security, employment, and environmental knowledge.

Contemporary Sports

Warao children and young people may play football, baseball, volleyball, and other sports in schools, towns, and migrant communities.
These are not traditional sports unique to the Warao.
Participation in contemporary sports, however, is fully compatible with Warao cultural identity.

Common Misconceptions

“All Warao People Live in Houses Over the Water”

Some Warao communities in the Orinoco Delta live in raised houses built over wetlands or along riverbanks.

Others live in settlements on dry land, towns such as Tucupita, major Venezuelan cities, or urban communities in Brazil and Guyana.

A person’s house cannot be used to determine whether that person is Warao.

“The Warao Travel Only by Canoe”

Canoes and motorboats remain important in the delta.

Warao people also use roads, buses, cars, and airplanes.

Those living in cities or outside Venezuela may rarely have an opportunity to use a canoe.

The canoe is culturally important, but it is not the only form of transportation used by the Warao today.

“The Warao Have Remained Isolated from the Outside World”

The Warao have long interacted with neighboring Indigenous peoples, European merchants, missionaries, governments, businesses, and urban markets.

Metal tools, manufactured clothing, religious traditions, formal education, outboard motors, and mobile phones have been adopted in different ways at different times.

Using outside objects or technologies does not mean that a person has lost their Warao identity.

“All Warao People Speak Only Warao”

Some people use Warao as their first language, while others are bilingual in Warao and Spanish or mainly speak Spanish.

In Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, and other countries, Warao people may also use English, Dutch, Portuguese, Creole languages, or other regional languages.

The ethnic Warao population and the number of Warao-language speakers are not the same.

“Their Environmental Knowledge Means They Do Not Need Support”

The Warao possess extensive knowledge of the complex environments of the Orinoco Delta.

Environmental knowledge, however, does not eliminate the need for safe drinking water, healthcare, education, and legal protection.

River modification, salinization, infectious disease, changing land use, and urban discrimination cannot be solved solely through traditional knowledge.

At the same time, the Warao should not be portrayed as passive people waiting to be rescued by outsiders.

Warao teachers, healthcare workers, representatives, interpreters, researchers, artists, and community organizations participate in decisions about their communities and their future.

The Warao Today

The Warao now live not only along the waterways of the Orinoco Delta but also in Venezuelan towns and cities and in communities in Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and elsewhere.

Some continue to work in fishing, farming, plant gathering, canoe building, and craft production. Others participate in education, healthcare, government, interpretation, commerce, construction, tourism, research, and the arts.

Some households use Warao in daily life, while others mainly use Spanish. Families living abroad may also learn Portuguese, English, or another language.

Moving to a city does not automatically cause Warao culture to disappear.

In urban and international communities, Warao identity continues through language, family relationships, food, hammock and basket making, songs, stories, and community gatherings.

International migration can nevertheless create complicated situations in which Indigenous rights intersect with the legal systems governing migration and asylum. Documentation, education, healthcare, housing, and employment may all be difficult to access.

Children may struggle to understand classes taught only in Portuguese. Patients may be unable to explain their symptoms at medical facilities, while adults may find it difficult to obtain work outside the sale of crafts.

Warao teachers, interpreters, cultural mediators, women’s organizations, and community representatives are working with public institutions and support organizations to address these problems.

In Brazil, Warao and other Indigenous migrants from Venezuela have also participated in developing a “Life Plan” expressing their own priorities regarding education, culture, employment, community life, and their relationship with their homeland. UNICEF’s information on the Life Plan developed by Warao and other Indigenous peoples

Warao culture does not exist only in tourist images of dugout canoes and houses raised above the water.

Through knowledge of rivers and wetlands, family cooperation, the Warao language, canoes, moriche palms, craftwork, formal education, urban employment, and newly formed communities across national borders, the Warao continue to carry their culture into the present.