Asserting One’s Own Identity: a (Bi)national and International Challenge for the Wayúu Ethnic Group (Venezuela-Columbia)
Affirmer son identité : un défi (bi)national et international de l’ethnie wayúu (Venezuela-Colombie)
Résumé
This paper observes how the Wayúu people (the most numerous native ethnic group in Colombia and Venezuela) adapts occidental economic patterns developing resilience strategies that mix identitary, territorial and economical criteria. Thus, they applied acultural and economical hybridization using tools and organizational method proper of the alijunas (the “non-Wayúu”) and even exploiting the flaws of these to develop activities belonging to their ethnic identity. However, they didn’t escape the damages due to extractivism and globalization. Hence, it’s necessary to think about the mechanisms established, by the Wayúu themselves (and by the institutions), in order to try and remedy these issues and/or to preserve strong identity markers as well as to stay part of their national communities.As a result, we postulate that the phenomenon leading to the Wayúu marginalization are also mechanisms for their “visibilization” on a national (or even international) level.