Katuena

The Katuena belong to the group of peoples today better known by the generic name Waiwai, inhabitants of the Trombetas-Mapuera Indigenous Lands, covering the states of Pará, Amazonas, and Roraima. However, Waiwai is the name of just a part, albeit the greater part, of the inhabitants. The Katuena also live in some mixed villages in Suriname. There are in total around 500 individuals.

Like Waiwai, a language that has become common between these groups, Katuena is a language from the Karib family, spoken by just a few dozen people and practically extinct today.

In Suriname, the Katuena are known as Tunayana and live in Waiwai communities. In the 1960s, some missionaries took a group of Tunayana, along with some Waiwai and Mawayana, to Tiryió communities, inhabitants of the Tumucumaque Park, in the north of Pará, to learn their language and help them become members of this ethnic group. These Tunayana remained in Suriname and now mostly speak Tiryió as their first language.