 Pemon boy, Venezuela | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 31,440 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Venezuela | 30,148 (2011)[1] |
 Brazil | 792 (2014)[2] |
 Guyana | c. 500[3] |
| Languages | |
| Pemon,Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| traditional tribal religion,Roman Catholicism[4] | |
ThePemon orPemón (Pemong) areindigenous people living in areas ofVenezuela,Brazil, andGuyana.[5] The Pemon people are divided into many dialects and traditions, which areArekuna,Kamarakoto, andTaurepang.[4]
The Pemon are part of the largerCariban language family, and include six groups including the Arekuna,Ingarikó, Kamarakoto, Tualipang, Mapoyo andMacushi/Makushi (Macuxi or Makuxi in Brazil). While ethnographic data on these groups are scant, Iris Myers produced one of the most detailed accounts of the Makushi[6] in the 1940s, and her work is heavily relied upon for comparisons between historical and contemporary Makushi life.[7]
The Pemon were first encountered by westerners in the 18th century and converted by missionaries toChristianity.[5] Their society is based on trade and considered egalitarian and decentralized, and in Venezuela, funding from petrodollars have helped fund community projects, and ecotourism opportunities are also being developed.[5] In Venezuela, Pemon live in theGran Sabanagrassland plateau dotted with tabletop mountains where theAngel Falls, the world's highest waterfall, plunges fromAuyantepui inCanaima National Park.[5]
In Brazil, Pemon live among other indigenous people near the borders of Venezuela and Guyana in villages within the Terras Indígenas São Marcos and Raposa Serra do Sol. There are 792 Pemon according to a 2014 estimate.[8]
TheMakuxi, who are also Pemon speakers, are found inBrazil andGuyana in areas close to the Venezuelan border.
The Pemon language and people have been extremely affected by tourism and historical events like the establishment of the Canaima camp founded by the Boulton family nearby the Canaima town, where the demographic concentration of Pemon people is established. Many Pemon people work in hotels and tourism. This deeply affected the tradition of the Pemon people, as they turned out to be a Catholic majority population, and left behind their ancestral language and belief, still, many Pemon people, known as "Chamanes" still practice the ancestral religion, mostly for healthcare.
Pemon (inSpanish: Pemón), is aCariban language spoken mainly inVenezuela, specifically in theGran Sabana region ofBolívar State. According to the 2001 census there were 15,094 Pemon speakers inVenezuela. It is divided into three principal dialects, which are; Arekuna, Kamarakoto, and Taurepang.[4]
The Pemon have a very rich mythic tradition which is merged into their present Christian faiths. Pemon mythology includes gods residing in the grassland area's table-top mountains calledtepui.[5] The mountains are off-limits to the living, as they are also home to ancestor spirits calledmawari.[5] The first non-native person to seriously study Pemon myths and language was the German ethnologistTheodor Koch-Grunberg, who visitedRoraima in 1912.
Important myths describe the origins of the sun and moon, the creation of thetepui mountains – which dramatically rise from the savannahs of theGran Sabana — and the activities of the creator hero Makunaíma. Makunaíma is described as an individual or a group of brothers, sons of the sunWei and a woman made of clay. He goes searching for his father who had been captive of malevolent spirits. After finding his father, Makunaíma finds the "tree of the world", which he cuts down and the resulting stump becomesMount Roraima. The falling of the tree caused a great cataclysm, with floods and fire, and humans were recreated by Makunaíma. Makunaíma also turned people and animals into stone that are a part of Pemon description of the natural world.[9]
Missionary work among Amerindians has impacted Pemon belief; andJechikrai is the Pemon adaptation of Jesus Christ.[9]
Pemon have polytheistic beliefs. Mythological figures like Makunaima, Kanaima, Iwarrika and Sigu are an important part of their culture. The most important god is Makunaima because, in their opinion, he created the tribe. Furthermore, they associate some natural phenomena to some divinities like Iwarrika who is blamed for flooding the earth. The Shaman plays an important part in their religious practice. He meets the god during hallucinogenic rituals when tobacco and a specific diet are used.[10]
In 1999, Wolfgang Kraker von Schwarzenfeld arranged the transport of a red stone boulder, weighing about 35 metric tons, from Venezuela's Canaima National Park toBerlin Tiergarten for his "global stone" project. Since that time, a dispute had been ongoing of the Pemon trying to get the stone back, involving German and Venezuelan authorities and embassies.[11][12][13]
On 16 April 2020, the Kueka stone was finally returned to Venezuela.[14]
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