Maleiwa

The Maleiwa religion is followed by the Wayuu of the Guajira Peninsula, on the Caribbean coast of what is now Colombia and Venezuela. Its central figure is Maleiwa, creator of everything and founder of Wayuu society. Pulowi, tied to the wind and the dry seasons, and Juya, a roaming hunter, are a married pair of demigods of life, while Wanülu is the evil spirit of sickness and death.

The dead remained part of Wayuu life. A body was buried with its belongings, and after five years the bones were dug up and reburied in the clan cemetery.

The Spanish never subdued the Wayuu. They destroyed a Capuchin mission in 1701 and burned the church at El Rincón in 1769.