Kuaiker are an Amerindian people or nationality that inhabits both sides of the border between Colombia and Ecuador, in the very humid forests of the western slopes of the Andes; from the Telembí River, in Nariño, to Carchi, Imbabura, Sucumbíos and Esmeraldas. There are more than 29,000 people, 89 percent of whom live on the Colombian side, in Ricaurte, Altaquer, Tumaco, Barbacoas, Mallama, Roberto Payán and Putumayo. Most of them speak their native language, Awá Pit.

The conquistadors called them barbacoas because of the shape of their dwellings. They were also called telembíes for the river or sindaguas.