The Wai Wais are originally from Brazil (ANAWA), now called Roraima. Through hunting expeditions, they became familiar with KANASHEN (GOD loves you). Kan is God in the Wai Wai language. Over years, lots of them inhabited the area and the population increased. There was a threat of an “invasion,” a police raid for illegal guns and a lot of families left the location. Some went back to Brazil, while some went to a place upriver of kanashen called Shafalimo.