E'ñepá (Panare)

The E'ñepá, better known in the literature as Panare, are a Cariban-speaking people of the Guiana Highlands fringe in Venezuela, concentrated in the Cuchivero river basin and the savanna-forest mosaic of Cedeño municipality in northwestern Bolívar state, near the market town of Caicara del Orinoco. Their language forms its own branch within the Cariban family and is noted among linguists for its unusual object-initial word order.

Communities are semi-permanent settlements of a few dozen people built around one to four palm-thatched longhouses that are rebuilt every few years as the thatch decays. The E'ñepá are swidden farmers and hunters; men fish and hunt while women manage cooking and childcare, and both sexes work the gardens. They maintain a strong craft economy — their basketry and beadwork are sold widely in the region and handicrafts have become a significant income source — alongside newer activities such as livestock raising.

Despite proximity to criollo towns, the E'ñepá have retained their language and distinctive dress to an unusual degree, and they reached wide audiences as the subject of the first episode of the British documentary series Disappearing World in 1970. Pressures from mining activity in Bolívar state, land regularization and market dependence shape their contemporary situation.