Nambikwara

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nambikwara

Total population
approx. 1,200[1]
Regions with significant populations
Mato Grosso, Brazil
Languages
Nambikwara, some also speak Portuguese.
Religion
Christian, Animist
Related ethnic groups
none

The Nambikwara (also called Nambikuára) is an indigenous people of the Brazilan Amazon. Currently ca. 1,200 Nambikwara live in federal reservations in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso along the Guaporé and Juruena rivers. Their villages are accessible from the Pan-American highway.^[1]

The Nambikwara were first contacted in 1770 but did not experience prolonged contact with Europeans until the early 20th century, When Brazilian army official Marechal Cândido Rondon passed through Nambikwara territory to extend the telegraph lines. He estimated that there were around 10,000 Nambikwara. Shortly after contact with European Brazilians epidemics of measles and smallpox decimated the population to only 500 around 1930.^[1]

The culture of the Nambikwara was the subject of studies by French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, which were later analyzed by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his work Of Grammatology.

[edit] Bands and subgroups

The Nambikuara Nation is composed of many smaller bands which each have their own name.

• Nambikwara do Sarare
  • Kabixí do Mato Grosso
• Nambikwara do Campo of Mato Grosso — Rondônia
  • Halotesu
  • Hithaulu
  • Sawentesu
  • Wakalitesu
• Nambikwara do Norte of Rondônia — Mato Grosso
  • Lakondê
  • Latundê, A.I. Tubarão-Latunde.
  • Mamaindê, A.I. Pirineus de Souza, and A.I. Vale do Guaporé
  • Nambikwara
  • Manduka, A.I. Pirineus de Souza
  • Negarotê, A.I. Vale do Guaporé
  • Tagnaní
  • Tamaindé
  • Tawandê
  • Tawitê or Tauite.
• Nambikwara do Sul of Mato Grosso
  • Alaketesu
  • Alantesu
  • Galera
  • Hahaintesu, A.I. Vale do Guaporé
  • Kabixí
  • Munduka
  • Waikisu, A.I. Vale do Guaporé
  • Wasusu, A.I. Vale do Guaporé

• Sabanê
  • Sabanê, A.I. Pirineus de Souza

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Kroeker, 2001, p.1

• Kroeker, Menno (2001) A descriptive Grammar of Nambikuara, IJAL 67 No. 1. January. pp 1 - 87.

• Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1948) "La vie familiale et sociale des indiens nambikwara", Journal de la Société des américanistes 37, Paris.

• Williams, Suzanne (1983), Land Rights and the Manipulation of Identity: Official Indian Policy in Brazil, Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 137-161
• Ethnologue on Nambikwara

This South America-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e

This article related to an ethnic group is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e