Beyond Assilimation vs Cultural Resistance: Wayuu Market Appropriation in Riohacha, La Guajira, Colombia

Abstract

On the semi-desert Guajira Peninsula of northern Colombia, the Wayuu Indians and the arijuna (non-Wayuu) have shared a long history that includes conflict, acceptance, and exchange. Under constant assimilation forces in the city of Riohacha, Wayuu women vendors have adopted market strategies that draw them nearer to arijuna culture and society and yet enable them to reproduce a distinctive, if altered, Wayuu identity. I explore the motivations that Wayuu women have to participate daily in the market economy, and describe how commerce is both a necessity and opportunity for them. Wayuu vendors both represent and stimulate Wayuu culture and identity by selling products symbolic of their culture and broadening the notion of what it means to be Wayuu. This statement is based on findings from fieldwork at four different kinds of Wayuu marketing sites in Riohacha. In the tradition of economic anthropology, I compare my findings with other case studies of indigenous marketing in Latin America to better understand the regional patterns as they relate to the Wayuu. Ultimately, I intend to go beyond the dyad cultural maintenance/assimilation by attending to Wayuu perspectives. This research also contributes to the relatively small body of English language literature available on the Wayuu.