Wapishana language

Wapishana (Wapixana) is an Arawakan language of Guyana and Brazil. It is spoken by over 13,000 people on both sides of the Guyana-Brazil border.

In Brazil the highest concentration of Wapishana speakers are in the municipalities of Cantá and Bonfim, the Serra da Lua region, where it has been recognized as an official language since 2014.

External pressures have diminished the use of Wapishana among younger generations, and it was not until 1987 that Wapishana was used as the teaching language in Indigenous schools of the language community. In 2009, Roraima Federal University created an extension program for learning Wapishana. In Guyana, there are organizations for language preservation, such as Wapichan Wadauniinao Ati'o