Beyond Animal Husbandry: The Role of Herders Among the Wayuu of Colombia

Abstract The territory of the Wayuu indigenous people comprises a small, low mountain range surrounded by large desert that extends from Colombia to Venezuela in Guajira peninsula. In pre-Columbian times, livelihoods relied mainly on fishing and hunting littoral zone. Following Spanish conquest, their fight maintain territorial integrity they turned rearing cattle, goats, sheep captured colonists. They maintained struggle against colonisation post-independence. have only recently obtained political devolution through legal recognition territories. Their economy now relies animal husbandry combat food insecurity. Our ethnographic study pastoralism confirmed our hypothesis goats has become integral maintaining cultural traditions, revealed role both male female herders instrumental rituals, longstanding patterns reciprocity.