Mitigation and management of sociocultural risk in the Wayuu ethnic group, department of La Guajira

Abstract

From different shades, Wayuu culture, is the defense of the tradition of moral, spiritual and ethical values, which are transmitted from generation to generation by their elders and uncles. This is why all cultural realities have a formalized symbolic content. Each people has a certain way of formalizing reality, expressed in
language, clothing and religion.
 
The Wayuu family at a social level has a complex structure, its matrilineal and clanic character, preserve its own territory and totemic animal, traditional authority persist, there exists between them a specific form of administering justice, characterized by the figure of the Word (Putchipu). Recognized by UNESCO, as an intangible heritage of humanity, bearers of the word, help resolve conflicts between clans. Within the Wayuu family, the authority is represented by the maternal uncle, who is involved in family and domestic problems. Within the family, the woman plays an important role, she is the leader and organizer of the clan, they are politically very active in their society, they are independent in their decision making at the level of their culture. However, today they are threatened by the proliferation of factors of high socio-cultural risks.