Indigenous to the northern Amazonian region is the Wajapi of the Tupi-guarani language group.
There are some 580 Wajapi living in 40 villages on a specially designated territory in the state of Amapá. The Wajapi adorn themselves and their objects with geometric motifs, using vegetable dyes. These designs are known as kusiwa, and they are made from red vegetable dyes extracted from the roucou plant mixed with scented resins. The Wajapi consider that no one can attain these skills before they reach the age of forty. They commonly represent jaguars, butterflies, fish, and anacondas. Kusiwa's are based on a rich corpus of myths and represent the creation of humankind. In close relation to Amerindian oral traditions, this body art combines social, cultural, aesthetic, religious, and metaphysical meanings. Indeed, kusiwa forms the basis of Wajapi society, and it possesses an ancient significance that extends far beyond its role as a graphic art form. This coded repertory of traditional knowledge is forever evolving as indigenous artists continually re-work the motifs and generate new patterns.
The natives have evolved a unique system of communication that combines verbal and graphic components to reflect their worldview and give them away to pass on knowledge about community life. The language spoken by the Wajãpi belongs to the Tupi-Guarani family. The Emerillon of the Oiapoc river is the only representative of this linguistic family in this area. The knowledge of Portuguese is growing among the Wajapi: in all villages, women and children speak little of it, although they understand most of the dialogues.
Although the Wajapi lives on their territory, their traditional lifestyles are in danger of losing their symbolic significance. A loss of this symbolic meaning would drastically alter the social and cosmological reference points of the community. The principal threat stems from the younger generation's disinterest in traditional lifestyles and the decreasing number of Wajapi practicing the kusiwa repertoire.
Today this network has been disrupted by increased control of national borders, though the Wayampi group remains alive within various Wayampi groups. In exchange for tools, they traded cotton thread, hunting dogs, and feather crowns with the Wayana Indians. This network extended from the Amapari river in Brazil to the Tapanahoni river in Surinam. In the 1970s, Western goods began to replace local products, with the exception of cotton-woven hammocks and baskets. Ammunition, fishhooks, pans, and glass beads are now widely traded. Several people make a living out of tourism or have to shop in the local markets in addition to growing their own food.
References
(https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/oral-and-graphic-expressions-of-the-wajapi-00049) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayampi) (https://pib.socioambiental.org/en/Povo:Waj%C3%A3pi) (https://wwf.panda.org/discover/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/amazon/about_the_amazon/people_amazon/)