Indigenous People of Brazil

There are many indigenous people inhabiting in Brazil, I will pick two indigenous groups to discuss. First of all, the Piraha people of Brazil. They are a indigenous hunter-gatherers tribe of the amazon natives. Most of them live near the banks of the Maici River in Brazil's amazonas states. Their population stand at roughly 360, which is a sharp decrease from the past and their culture are on the verge of extinction. The Piraha people do not call themselves the Piraha, but instead, the Hi'aiti'ihi, when translated to english, means 'the straight ones'.

A Piraha Hunter

A view of the Maici River

Drawing of a Tupi Woman

The culture of the Piraha people, according to researchers, shows a simple family tree, no signs of social hierarchy and no leaders in the tribe. Instead of resorting to farming, the Piraha people have stuck to hunting as a main source of living, as well as bartering with traders from elsewhere. The Piraha people also have their own language which is called the Piraha language.










Secondly, I will talk about the Tupi people. The Tupi people were once the main ethnic group in the Indigenous group in Brazil. An interesting fact about the Tupi people is that in 1500, the population was estimated to be 1 million, roughly the population of Portugal. The Tupi people were further classified into tribes such as Tupiniquim, Tupinamba, Tabajar etc. The Tupi people practiced agriculture, planting corns, sweet potatoes and beans for a living.


In my opinion, the indigenous group in Brazil has been largely unaffected by globalisation. I believe that this is largely due to the fact they live far away from the main city, and there is no much connection with the indigenous people between the locals. This may be a good sign as the culture of the indigenous group is unchanged and remains original.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupi_people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirah%C3%A3_people