Wounnan people
The indigenous Wounaan people have lived for over five centuries along the banks of the San Juan River, on the border between the departments of Chocó and Valle del Cauca in the Colombian Pacific, and in the Darién region of Panama. Today, however, significant Wounaan communities live in some Colombian cities, mainly as a result of forced migration due to rural conflicts. In the cities, Wounaan artisans have found manual labor to be an important economic resource for family support.
Woun Meu is the native language, belonging to the Chocó language family, and is currently spoken by approximately 9,000 people.
COSOMOGONY
In Wounaan cosmogony, Maach Aai is revered as the creator god, the elder father. Initially, he originated in a lagoon and was a spirit that moved like the sea. As he grew, he took shape, moved like a child, and began to create the earth, the sea, the mountains, the moon, and the sun. Subsequently, he chose a beach called Baaur Do Mos (sábalo river beach), known today as Baudó, and there he created his son Ewadam. At the request of his son, who felt very lonely, Maach Aai created humans through clay figurines that were placed on the beach. Thus, the Wounaan were created.
Wounaan artisans shape mythological stories that define their past, and consequently, life in the present.
KNOWLEDGE
The transmission of knowledge and traditions occurs through oral communication: the elders, grandmothers, and mothers teach the new generations customs, agriculture, and land management, which is seen not only as a physical space but also as a ritual and symbolic place.
The art of weaving and canoe building are vital ancestral skills in the Wounaan culture, with baskets and boats renowned for their high quality and functionality. The division of labor by gender is well-defined: men are involved in activities such as hunting, fishing, construction, and woodworking, while women are dedicated to food preparation, fishing with small nets, raising children, and weaving.
Every stroke made, whether in weaving or sculpture, has a profound and ancestral meaning that gives sense and order to life in the territory.
MEMBERSHIP CARDS
The Wounaan people use various natural fibers from native palms in their Pacific territory, including weguer (or werregue), tetera, and chocolatillo.
The most representative objects of the people today are woven from weguer palm, characterized by a dense weave with thin but rigid fiber threads. The extraction and processing of the fiber is a long process that requires specific knowledge. The process begins with searching the forest for suitable palms for cutting, after which the fibers must be separated, washed, dried, dyed with natural pigments, straightened, and finally divided into fine threads for weaving.
It takes at least one month to obtain the material ready for weaving (collection, processing, and transport), after which the artisans begin to weave.
An artisanal piece takes an average of 1 to 2 months to complete,
depending on its size.
The origin of weaving is explained through a myth:
After creating the Wounaan, the God Ewandam provided for their sustenance with the "Plátano de Dios" (God's Plantain), a plantain he himself collected to nourish them. During Ewandam's absence, Dosat (Satan) convinced the Wounaan to learn to work and cultivate, giving them a machete and an axe. Upon his return, Ewandam discovered that his children were working and challenged Dosat to a competition to prove who was more powerful. In the challenge to salt the sea, Dosat failed, while Ewandam succeeded with just one spoonful of salt. Dosat then created sterile plants like the platanilla and caña brava, while Ewandam created useful plants like the chontaduro palm. Over time, the Wounaan have perfected the techniques for processing weguer, one of the sterile palms.
The Wounaan people live in a biodiverse region, but their lifestyle is threatened by the destruction of their natural habitat due to the interests of various external groups. As a result, they still suffer forced displacements to this day, leading to their people being dispersed among various cities in Colombian territory.
Sources: ONIC, Ministerio de Cultura de Colombia, ABC Colombia
Their lands, known since the conquest as "Chimila lands," have frequently been affected by the expansion of cattle ranches, the extraction of bananas, African palm, and balsam of Tolú, as well as the discovery of oil fields in the first half of the 20th century.
Sources: ONIC, DANE.
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