Author: Devika Ramdass

Student ID: 813000596

The Warao, also known as, Warrau or Guarauno, are nomadic South American Indians. They are an indigenous nation of people inhabiting Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname. A small population of descendants are also found in Trinidad. Warao can be loosely translated as “the boat people” due to their lifelong connection to the water. Most of the Warao inhabit Venezuela’s Orinoco Delta region, with smaller numbers in neighboring Guyana and Suriname. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, their language is that of the Macro Chibchan group.

The Warao believed man did not exist on earth, but that they first lived in the sky where birds were the only animals that existed. Human inhabitation of the “earth began when a hunter shot a bird with such force that his arrow penetrated the sky world and made it to earth. The hunter looked through the hole that was left in the sky, and upon seeing a earth rich with a number of game lowered himself via a rope he had attached to a tree. His fellow humans later decided to join him and ultimately the sky world was abandoned and earth became their new home.” This belief was used to as the group’s performance as it is a significant belief of the Warao people.

Additional research was done to inform our costume, however, their clothing was not extravagant, as they lived on the edges of the river. Coconut leaves were used to create skirts for females. The spines of the leaves were stripped so it could be flexible enough to braid. A braided waistband was created and strips of leaves were glued to the waistband. Brown cotton was used to create a “top” by cutting a long, wide strip which was wrapped around the neck and around the bust. African print fabric and feathers were used to create headbands. Perler beads, which are used to create pilexated artwork were used to make beaded chains. Painted faces was the final element to the costume, as an image was seen of the warao face which were used for decorative purposes. This costume was presented at the Old Yard, due to the short time frame between preparation and the presentation, there was an inability to interact with the audience members to receive a response.

         The costume was redone to accommodate the functionality required for J’ouvert. The Coconut leaf skirt would not have been able to withstand the social aspects of J’ouvert. Furthermore, the band of brown cotton used to wrap the bust in which a camisole was worn underneath have been insufficient coverage to allow for movement and accommodate the heat of the early morning sun. Thus, using brown cotton, a cropped sleeveless top and a simple wrap skirt was sewn which was lined with cotton polyester to ensure no transparency if it became sodden. Red yarn and twine was braided for both functional and aesthetic purposes. It lined the neck line of the top, was used to tie the wrap skirt and used to create a headpiece. The headpiece was made by double braiding the yarn and twine where feathers were glued to the center and brown cotton was folded and glued to cover the ends of the feathers to create a padding against my forehead. The braids were wrapped around the hem of the blouse and the waist of the top for aesthetic purposes. The face paint that was used for the Old Yard performance was reapplied before leaving Maraval for the meeting for J’ouvert.

While walking through Port of Spain to meet the band, there were hundreds of people on the streets. Many of them stared as it was unusual to see such costumes since everyone was wearing a tshirt and shorts. I appreciated the fact that my face was painted and I would be unidentifiable to strangers as I splashed them with paint. It was in some aspects an enjoyable experience as it was my first time participating in J’ouvert.