In the 16th century, Alonso de Ojeda of Spain sailed to South Caribbean coasts and reached the Maracaibo Basin.

The Spaniards believed that the area's frequent lightning strikes turned stone into gold, and so they began settling the region extensively.

They have been the subject of the French ethnologist Robert Jaulin, and they were among the peoples depicted in the 1921 documentary Blandt Syd-Amerikas urskovsindianere (Among the Primeval Forest Indians of South America).

The missionary Bruce Olson relates in his book, Bruchko, that he began living with the Bari in 1962, and he says that he became the "blood brother" of a chieftain's son.

They export the cacao and use the proceeds to help maintain their network of schools, community centers, and health clinics, all started after large numbers of the Barí (notably the chieftain, "Bobby") converted to Christianity, which resulted in a significant cultural shift.