270 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 177 
At the present time (1959), the Wai Wai appear to be holding their 
own both numerically and culturally in the upper Essequibo in spite 
of intermittent contact with missionaries and other Europeans over 
the past 10 years. Their present area of occupation is between the 
mouth of the Kassikaityu and the Essequibo headwaters in British 
Guiana, with a few of the tribe still remaining on the Brazil side of 
the border. Acculturation has been slow because of the remoteness of 
the region and its lack of attractions for Kuropean exploitation, and 
there is no indication that this situation will change in the near future. 
If the European diseases that periodically ravage aboriginal groups in 
other parts of the tropical forest are not introduced, the Wai Wai Phase 
will probably continue to endure for a considerable number of years. 
