Cunhambebe (more correctly pronounced Quonambec in his native

Tupi language Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi (also spelled as Tupí) is an extinct Tupian language which was spoken by the aboriginal Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. It belongs to ...

) was an Indigenous Brazilian

chieftain A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized a ...

of the Tupinambá tribe, which dominated the region between present-day Cabo Frio (

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

) and

Bertioga Bertioga is a Brazilian municipality of the state of São Paulo in the Baixada Santista. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Baixada Santista. The population is 64,723 (2020 est.) in an area of 490.15 km2. Because it neighbors resort to ...

(

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

). He lived in a village in Iperoig (near present-day

Ubatuba Ubatuba is a Brazilian municipality, located on the southeast coast, in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 92,819 (2021 est.) in an area of 723.88 km², of whi ...

Military career

Cunhambebe was also the main force and elected chief of the Tamoyo Confederation, a

military alliance A military alliance is a formal agreement between nations concerning national security. Nations in a military alliance agree to active participation and contribution to the defense of others in the alliance in the event of a crisis. (Online) ...

between the sea coast

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

s against the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

colonists. The Tamoyo Confederation waged war against the Portuguese until the Peace of Iperoig in 1567. They also fought the Portuguese forces in alliance with the French invaders commanded by

Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon Nicolas Durand, sieur de Villegaignon, also Villegagnon (1510 – 9 January 1571) was a Commander of the Knights of Malta, and later a French naval officer (vice-admiral of Brittany) who attempted to help the Huguenots in France escape persecutio ...

(1510–1571) in the historical episode which became known as the

France Antarctique France Antarctique (formerly also spelled ''France antartique'') was a French colony in Rio de Janeiro, in modern-day Brazil, which existed between 1555 and 1567, and had control over the coast from Rio de Janeiro to Cabo Frio. The colony quickly ...

. According to the description of French priest André de Thevet, the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

soldier of fortune and

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

Hans Staden Hans Staden (c. 1525 – c. 1576) was a German soldier and explorer who voyaged to South America in the middle of the sixteenth century, where he was captured by the Tupinambá people of Brazil. He managed to survive and return safe to Europe. In ...

(1525–1579) was a prisoner of Cunhambebe's father (who had the same name) between 1554 and 1557. The Tupinambá were fierce

warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

s and

cannibal Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...

s, as described by Hans Staden, who narrowly escaped several times of being killed and eaten by Cunhambebe's Indians. Houghton 51-897 - Monstrorum historia, 108

Houghton 51-897 - Monstrorum historia, 108

The war waged by the Tamoyo Confederation was strongly affecting the Portuguese colonisation efforts, so the two Portuguese Jesuit priests who had founded

São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga (''Saint Paul of the Fields of Piratininga'' in Portuguese) was the village that developed as São Paulo, Brazil in the region known as Campos de Piratininga. It was founded as a religious mission and a J ...

(which became the present-day

megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enoug ...

), Manoel da Nóbrega (1517–1570) and

José de Anchieta José de Anchieta y Díaz de Clavijo (Joseph of Anchieta) (19 March 1534 – 9 June 1597) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in the second half of the 16th century. A highly influential figure in Brazil's h ...

(1534–1597) started a peace mission by doing a high risk visit to Cunhambebe's village. Although they were received with mistrust, Anchieta spoke

very well and they were spared death. Eventually, Anchieta succeeded in negotiating a peace treaty, which was respected by Cunhambebe and the Tupinambás. The peace treaty ended when an attack force led by Portuguese

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

Estácio de Sá Estácio de Sá (1520 – February 20, 1567) was a Portuguese soldier and officer. Sá travelled to the colony of Brazil on the orders of the Portuguese crown to wage war on the French colonists commanded by Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon. These ...

(1520–1567) tried to expel the French invaders. In this occasion, the Tamoyo tribes came to help the Frenchmen, particularly because they felt betrayed by the Portuguese, and also because the

Temimino A subdivision of the Tupi-Guarani linguistic families, the Tupi people were one of the largest groups of indigenous Brazilians before its colonization. Scholars believe that while they first settled in the Amazon rainforest, from about 2,90 ...

tribes, their traditional and bitter enemies, fought on the side of the Portuguese.

Death

Cunhambebe died of bubonic plague just after the arrival of Villegaigon's fleet to the

Guanabara Bay Guanabara Bay ( pt, Baía de Guanabara, ) is an oceanic bay located in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niterói a ...

in Rio de Janeiro, before the events which eventually led to the almost complete destruction of the Tamoyos towards the end of the 16th century.

References

{{Authority control 16th-century Brazilian people 16th-century indigenous people of the Americas Brazilian people of indigenous peoples descent Indigenous leaders of the Americas 16th-century deaths from plague (disease) Year of birth unknown Tupí people France Antarctique