Wajãpi is the name used to designate the Indians who live in the region delimited by the Oiapoque, Jari, and Araguari rivers, in Amapá-Brazil. They are the same Guaiapi mentioned in the region of the lower Xingu River, their area of origin, since the 17th century. The language spoken by the Wajãpi belongs to the Tupi-Guarani family. There are also Wajãpi in French Güiana, whose language presents dialectal differences at the phonetic and lexical level, having received influences from Karib languages. Among the Wajãpi of Oiapoque, most of the men speak French and many also know the Wayana language. The history of the Wajãpi over the last 250 years corresponds to the northward expansion of this people, from their origin on the lower Xingu River to their settlement in the area they occupy today. In the last 100 years, this migration has led them to abandon the major routes, such as the Jari River, to settle in the headwaters and tributaries of the Jari, Amapari and Oiapoque rivers. In these regions, they experienced different processes of intertribal and interethnic relations, which resulted in the differentiation of the current Wajãpi subgroups. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, IBGE, closed the indigenous census in the region in March 2023. The total Wajãpi population has not yet been released.

Source: Amazon Agency