Fear of the Unknown

The village of Kavac, a small, charming indigenous settlement at the base of Auyantepui. This building was used to store supplies.

The Pemón relationship with the tepuis (actually the Pemón denomination of "table mountain") is complex and profound. The tepuis are sacred mountains for the Pemón. They are the "guardians of the savanna" where the "Mawari" - spirits in the form of men who may steal the souls of the living make their home, and for this reason they are not to be ascended according to the norms and traditions of Pemón society. Only in the last two decades, with the increase in visits from tourists, have some Pemón begun to disregard these traditional beliefs by taking groups of hikers to some of the more accessible tepuis.

The name of the park, which derives from the novel "Canaima" by Venezuelan author Rómulo Gallegos, means "spirit of evil" in the language of the Pemón. Canaima, the Indians say, can take the form of a jaguar in the forest, or a spirit who passes through their huts at night. Every mishap that ends in cuts and bruises is laid at his door.

According to Venezuelan writer Jose Berti, the Pemón, "like most pre-Colombian tribes don't believe in a natural death; and in order to explain their eternal disappearance from this world, they have created a symbolic character, Canaima, who pursues them without rest and who in the end defeats and kills them."

"If an Indian suffers from pneumonia, they say that Canaima has blown on his chest, if he has a stomach ache, it is put down to the evil work of Canaima, so that Canaima, or Death, is his implacable and eternal enemy," he adds.

Canaima National Park - Southeastern Venezuela, February, 1993

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