GOAJIRO

Indian people of the Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia and adjacent Venezuela. Numbering about 127,000 in the late 20th century, they speak an Arawakan language and are linguistically and culturally distinct from their neighbours to the south, the Arhuaco. The Goajiro are mainly a pastoral people, growing only a little corn (maize) to make chicha (beer). Besides raising cattle, they keep poultry, horses, mules, sheep, goats, and pigs. Their diet consists almost entirely of meat and milk products, and cattle are equated with wealth. They are nomadic or seminomadic, living mostly in temporary shelters; even in the more permanent settlements, houses are widely scattered.