The “Guayú”, as the natives also known as “Goajiro” call themselves, have for some centuries inhabited the Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia. With a population of about 300,000 (127,000 in Colombia and the rest in Venezuela), they at present make up more than 50% of the population of the department of La Guajira and occupy about 70% of the territory. In Venezuela they inhabit the Páez district in the state of Zulia, and are especially concentrated in the Ziruma neighbourhood of the city of Maracaibo. The Guayú territory covers a total area of 15,380 square kilometres, 12,000 of them in Colombia.

The peninsula inhabited by the Guayú is characterised by a semi-desert ecosystem of large plains with low mountain ranges . The territory is divided into three main regions: the Upper Guajira (Wuinpumüin, or “to the land of the water”, Middle Guajira (Wuopumüin, or “to the land of the paths”) and Lower Guajira (Uchimüin). Most of the population is at present concentrated in the first two regions, since the land in the south, which is better and more fertile, has been taken from them by the whites since colonisation. The climate is extremely dry almost all the year round as a result of the prevailing north-east winds, which are interrupted by seasons of heavy rains .

One of the most surprising cultural aspects today is their ability to maintain, create and transform life and their identity through the art of weaving, just as Alekerü—the spider—does in nature, assimilating foreign elements and communicating and complementing opposites. Guayú fabrics retain rather more than their functional value and the women play a central role in this process. In their constant daily practice of weaving, it is they who elaborate and pass on knowledge, values, patterns and myths. In other words, they hold society together.