t embodies a hidden force that manifests in disease and death. A tradition sown by generations, becoming a deep part of the cultural identity of those communities. But at the same time, that mysterious divinity also has another mission that makes it far more complex. Its presence is also a safeguard of the cultural affirmation of those ethnic groups, their rivers, their forests, and their vertical mountains. It is resistance against external factors that could destroy or erase that cultural identity.
As those who have studied the significant reach of the feared spirit have made clear: “The relevance of Kanaimé is not limited to the past; it is a reality still present, and its attacks are considered certain and undeniable.” Understanding Kanaimé is fundamental to appreciating the richness and complexity of the spiritual heritage of the indigenous peoples of that region and their communities nestled in the Guiana Shield, the oldest geological structure on the planet.
"— Pemón TraditionThe mountain does not speak to those who shout. It only whispers to those who learn the language of the wind and the silence of stone.
It is the land of the tepuis with their waterfalls cascading down vertical walls that break away from the elevated plateaus with flat summits unique in the world. Structures that harbor unique ecosystems and endemic species.
And there is also the “Kerepakupai vená,” or Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world and a place that, along with its impressive beauty, is also respected and feared by visitors, explorers, adventurers, and scientists who ascend to the summit located on one of the largest tepuis in the region, with its drop of 979 meters.
Not only the communities that inhabit that ancient region have encountered Kanaimé. Legend attributes to its spirit and the hundreds of souls that accompany it the role of deities guarding the Kerepakupai vená.
Another Venezuelan adventurer and daring pilot knowledgeable of that region recounts in his recently published book “El Ángel de Jimmie” that Auyantepuy has an imposing canyon at its summit, from which the tallest waterfall in the world plunges. For those who try to approach from the air, in airplanes, and see up close that marvel of nature, they must fly over that canyon, which ended up being called “Devil’s Canyon” because it demands very precise and dangerous maneuvers from pilots.
For this reason, many of the pilots who travel and fly over that dangerous canyon know and respect Kanaimé. Marull tells us that there, on that summit, are the remains of more than sixty aircraft of all types and sizes that underestimated the risk of flying into that narrow place.
Among those sixty planes was the “Flamingo Río Caroní,” the plane of explorer Jimmie Angel, who on one occasion risked landing on the summit of Auyantepuy, and the small aircraft became stuck there in the wet soil of the summit. Jimmie and his companions, including his wife, took several days to return to camp after a dangerous ascent along the slopes of the tepui. After an accident, the Flamingo remained on that summit for 33 years exposed to sun and rain. In 1964 it was declared a National Historical Monument.
Stories recount that the name “Devil’s Canyon” is attributed to the presence of those “evil spirits” that guard the waterfall and the summit of Auyantepuy. For the Pemón and Yekuana cultures, that is the home of the God Kanaimé, whom not only the indigenous people of the region have feared, but also the visitors and adventurers who for more than a century have taken risks to get to know up close the mysteries guarded by that territory that many called the lost world.
The name Kanaimé was left not only to identify the feared spirit that guards the region but for the entire territory known as Canaima, which is today a world heritage site annexed by the “Natural World Heritage,” the Convention adopted by UNESCO for the protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage.