| Group: | Panare / E'ñepá |
| Total: | 4.688 (2011) |
| Total Ref: | [1] |
| Langs: | Panare language |
| Related: | PemonYe'kuana |
The Panare, who call themselves E'ñepá, are an indigenous group of people living in the Amazonian region of Venezuela. Their heartland is located in the Cedeño Municipality, Bolívar State, while a smaller community lives in Northern Amazonas State. They speak the Panare language, which belongs to the Carib family.
While Western culture has had a moderate influence on other tribes of the region, the Panare retain much of their culture and tradition, resembling that of the North American natives in the late 1800s and the early 1900s.
The first ever episode of the long-running ITV anthropological television series Disappearing World, in 1970 focused on these people.[2]
Pope Paul VI allowed New Testament to be translated by missionaries who went to visit the Panare after viewing "Disappearing World". The new version replaced Judas, Jews, Romans, and many other people/groups who feel guilt or sinful for Christ's crucifixion. Replacing any mention of those groups, the Panare were inserted instead to make them culpable and susceptible to Christian guilt to emotionally ensnare and colonize the Panare.