[2] 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.
An example is the three classes of plants, karam’makau, wapaurib bau and wapananinau, which are indicative of the "cultivation criteria" of the indigenous people.
Cassava, a foodstuff of major importance to indigenous people of the region, has a "bewildering variety of names" in Wapishana.
Aikhenvald (1999) separates Mawayana/Mapidian/Mawakwa (considered as a single language) from Wapishana, and she includes them in a Rio Branco branch.
[5]: 33 Wapishana and Pemon, a Cariban language, have borrowed heavily from each other due to intensive mutual contact.