Who Are the Wari'?
The Wari' (also Pakaas Novos or Pacaás Novos) are an indigenous people of Rondônia state in western Brazil, numbering approximately 3,500-4,000. They speak Wari', a Chapacuran language. The Wari' were contacted between 1956 and 1969, when they experienced catastrophic population decline from introduced diseases—dropping from perhaps 3,000 to around 500. They are known to anthropologists for their former practice of mortuary cannibalism (consuming the bodies of deceased community members), which they abandoned under missionary influence. Their remarkable demographic recovery and cultural adaptation have made them a significant case study in anthropological literature.
Mortuary Cannibalism
The Wari' formerly practiced mortuary cannibalism—the consumption of deceased community members by their relatives. This practice was not about aggression or nutrition but about grief, love, and transforming the dead person's remains. Mourners found it unbearable to leave loved ones' bodies to decay or be consumed by worms. Instead, the body was roasted and consumed by relatives (not including the closest kin, who could not participate). The deceased was thus taken into the living community rather than abandoned. Contact with missionaries led to the practice's cessation, replaced by burial—which Wari' elders still describe with discomfort. Anthropologist Beth Conklin's work documented these practices and their meanings.
Contact and Recovery
The Wari' experienced devastating contact in the 1950s-1960s. FUNAI (then SPI) contact expeditions, followed by missionaries and rubber tappers, brought epidemics that killed the majority of the population. Villages were destroyed; survivors concentrated at government posts. From this near-extinction, the Wari' have achieved remarkable demographic recovery—population has grown sevenfold since the low point. This recovery involved cultural adaptation, including abandoning some practices (cannibalism, certain ceremonies) while maintaining others (language, subsistence patterns, social organization). The Wari' story demonstrates both the devastating impact of contact and indigenous peoples' resilience.
Contemporary Wari'
Modern Wari' live in several indigenous territories in Rondônia, practicing hunting, fishing, and swidden agriculture. The Wari' language remains the primary language; most Wari' also speak Portuguese. Many have converted to evangelical Christianity, which has transformed some cultural practices. Economic activities include Brazil nut collection and limited wage labor. Deforestation and cattle ranching surround and threaten Wari' territories. Relations with settlers and regional society remain tense. How the Wari' maintain cultural distinctiveness—including their unique approach to death and the body—while integrating into Brazilian economy shapes this demographically recovering people's future.
References
- Conklin, B. A. (2001). Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society
- Vilaça, A. (2010). Strange Enemies: Indigenous Agency and Scenes of Encounters in Amazonia
- Von Graeve, B. (1989). The Pacaa Nova: Clash of Cultures on the Brazilian Frontier