Curripaco

The Curripaco (Kurripako) are an Arawakan-speaking people of the Guainía-Río Negro, Isana, and Inírida basins, whose territory spans the triple frontier of Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil; the largest population lives in Colombia's Guainía and Vichada departments. They are very closely related to the Baniwa of Brazil — Brazilian sources often treat Curripaco as a Baniwa dialect group — but in Colombia and Venezuela they are recognized as a distinct people. Their society is built on six exogamous phratries of patrilineal clans, and their language belongs to the Northern Arawakan branch, close to Warekena and Baniva.

Household economies combine gardens of bitter manioc — of which they cultivate dozens of varieties — with seasonal fishing in rivers and lagoons, hunting, and gathering. Basketry, manioc griddles, and other fiber crafts are made both for use and for sale, an important source of cash income.

From the mid-twentieth century, evangelical Christianity spread widely among the Curripaco through the missionary Sofía Müller, and pastors now hold significant community authority, yet kinship rules, phratry organization, and territorial arrangements remain largely traditional. Curripaco communities today hold recognized territories in Colombia and participate in regional indigenous associations, while facing pressures from mining and border-zone economies.