Yukpas

Yukpa

Woman selling crafts with her daughter in a river near the Sierra de Perija
Regions with significant populations
Venezuela 10,877  Colombia 4,761
Languages
Spanish, yukpa

Yukpa is an Amerindian ethnic group that inhabits the northeastern part of the Cesar Department in northern Colombia by the Serranía del Perijá bordering Venezuela. Their territory covers the eastern areas of the municipalities of Robles La Paz, Codazzi and Becerril in Resguardos (indian reserve) named Socorpa, Menkue, El Cozo Iroka and some other small areas in Venezuela. According to an Inter Press Service story, the majority of the Yukpa, who number nearly 10,000, live in Venezuela although some communities are still located in the mountains across the border in Colombia. The Yukpa people have been known to consume certain nest-inhabiting wasp species, such as Polistes pacificus, which make paper nests that can be quickly knocked from its hanging place on a tree directly into a fire, where the larvae are then toasted.

In 1966, Ernest Fowler, an American missionary who had worked with the Yukpa since the 1940s, was murdered by Marxist guerillas while living among the Yukpa in northeastern Colombia.

In 2013 Yukpa leader Sabino Romero who led the Yukpa peoples fight for their lands was assassinated.

"Taking the Gospel to the Yukpa": https://www.wsj.com/articles/taking-the-gospel-to-the-yukpa-1470353212