The Karajá, also known as Iny, are an indigenous tribe located in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
[Karaja Indians.]
''Hands Around the World.'' (retrieved 10 Sept 2009)
Territory
Karajá people live in a 180-mile-long area in central Brazil,
[Buckley, Stephen]
''Washington Post.'' 19 Dec 1999 (retrieved 10 Sept 2009) in the states of
Goiás
Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goi ...
,
Mato Grosso,
Pará
Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana ...
, and
Tocantins
Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 20 ...
. They currently reside in 29 villages in the
Araguaia River valley, near lakes and tributaries to the Araguaia and Javaés Rivers, and the
Ilha do Bananal.
[
]
Population
Earlier in the 20th century, there were 45,000 Karajá. In 1999, there were 2500–3000 Karajá.[ Today, they number around 3200-3700 people, all living in 20 different villages (Instituto Socioambiental, 2016; Museu do Índio 2016).
]
History
In 1673 the tribe first encountered European explorers.[ The Karajá first encountered the Europeans through two interactions, one with Jesuit missionaries as early as 1658 (Ribeiro, 2012; Museu do Índio, 2016) and the second with groups of bandeirantes throughout the 1600s (Ribeiro 2012). These bandeirantes were explorers, mainly from São Paulo, who went in search of gold and slaves. In their exploration of the interior of Brazil they came across the Karajá and used violence in order to confront and control them (Ribeiro, 2012; Museu do Índio, 2016). In 1811, the ]Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...
, based in 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 ...
at the time, waged war against the Karajá and neighboring tribes. The Karajá and Xavante
The Xavante (also Shavante, Chavante, Akuen, A'uwe, Akwe, Awen, or Akwen) are an indigenous people, comprising 15,315 individuals within the territory of eastern Mato Grosso state in Brazil. They speak the Xavante language, part of the Jê lang ...
retaliated by destroying the presidio of Santa Maria do Araguia in 1812. More recently, the Karajá have been subject to renewed interest in areas west of the Araguaia River (Ribeiro, 2012), known as the ‘March to the West’. During this period, the area attracted the likes of anthropologists, governors, and presidents of the republic (Ribeiro 2012; Instituto Socioambiental, 2016). During the mid-20th century, the tribe was overseen by Brazil's federal Indian bureau, the Serviço de Proteção aos Índios or SPI.[Garfield 23]
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Karajá community leader, Idjarruri Karaja, campaigned for better education, land rights, and employment opportunities for the tribe. Karaja also brought electricity and telecommunications to the tribe in 1997.[
These contacts with outsiders has resulted in cultural exchange to the extent that many Iny have now integrated themselves into Brazilian society, dominating the Portuguese language and working in official government roles (Museu do Índio, 2016). The Karajá language is one aspect of Iny culture where this exchange is visible. The Iny to this day have loan words that are taken from Língua Geral (Ribeiro, 2012). This was a hybrid language between European Portuguese and native languages that facilitated communication between these two groups. In addition, the Iny have a set of loan words from other indigenous communities due to repeated contact with groups such as the Tapirapé and the Kaiapó (Ribeiro, 2012).
]
Language
They speak the Karajá language
, also known as , is spoken by the Karajá people in some thirty villages in central Brazil.
There are distinct male and female forms of speech; one of the principal differences is that men drop the sound , which is pronounced by women.
Karaja ...
, which is part of the Macro-Jê language family.[ It was suggest as being a part of this family as early as 1886 but remained as an unclassified language for the majority of the 20th century until around 1967 (Ribeiro, 2012, p. 268). The language has four dialects: Northern Karajá, Southern Karajá, Javaé, and Xambioá. Within these dialects, there are differences in speech males and females (Ribeiro, 2012; Insituto Socioambiental, 2016). The Karajá language is generally the first language spoken by children, indicating that the majority (if not all) of people are fluent speakers of the language (Museu do Índio, 2016).
]
Economy
Although they are known as one of Brazil's poorest tribes,[ they are self-sufficient. Their livelihood is based upon agriculture and craft work. Crops are diverse and include bananas, beans, manioc, maize, peanuts, potatoes, watermelons, and yams. Fishing is also highly important, as is hunting. Ceramics dolls are commonly made for export.][
]
Culture and arts
Karajá are highly mobile people. Families often build temporary fishing camps. During the dry season, the tribe hosts festivals. In the rainy seasons, families move to villages on high ground. They employ swidden or slash-and-burn techniques in farming. Men govern group decision-making and negotiation with outside groups, such as NGO
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
s.[
Body painting still thrives as an art among Karajá, with women specializing in this medium, which employ paints made from genipap juice, charcoal, and ]annatto
Annatto ( or ) is an orange-red condiment and food coloring derived from the seeds of the achiote tree ('' Bixa orellana''), native to tropical America. It is often used to impart a yellow or orange color to foods, but sometimes also for its f ...
dye. Both women and men weave baskets, while only women create ceramics. Karajá excel at feather work.[
Panier à couvercle Warabahu MHNT ETH 2010 24 102.jpg, Cart art lid "Warabahu" MHNT
MHNT ETH 2010 24 101 Panier tarirana.jpg, Cart art lid "tarirana" MHNT
Rape à Manioc MHNT ETH 2010 24 93.jpg, "Orana" - Cassava grater MHNT
Labret Holua MHNT ETN 2011 17 10.jpg, "Holua" - Vertical labret MHNT
Caraja - Peigne MHNT RTH 2011 17 03.jpg, “Siho” comb MHNT
Massue Otote MHNT ETH 2010 24 103.jpg, Mace "Otote" MHNT
Pieu funéraire - itxeo MHNT ETH 2010 24 94.jpg, Funeral pile "itxeo"
Statuette Karajà MHNT.ETH.2010.24.01.jpg, Ceramic statuette MHNT
File:Statuette Karajà MHNT.ETH.2011.17.32.jpg , woman with cayman – MHNT
]
Research
There have been a number of studies done regarding the Karajá (Fortune & Fortune, 1963; Viana, 1995) such as the thorough and detailed descriptive grammar provided by Eduardo Rivail Ribeiro in the Department of Linguistics through the University of Chicago (2012). This descriptive grammar provided by Ribeiro focuses on the phonological and morphological characteristics of the Karajá language. In the phonological context, Ribeiro writes about language characteristics such as syllable patterns, stress placement, inventory, and consonants, among others. In terms of morphology, Ribeiro focuses on word-formation, verbs, and nouns, among others. In addition, one of the interesting focuses of this descriptive grammar is the difference in speech that is present between males and females (Ribeiro, 2012). This is ultimately not a major difference in the styles of speech but a slight one, such as the inclusion of the letter ‘k’ in some words of the female form of speech. Additional studies on the Karajá include the study of Marcus Maia (2010) who looks at various aspects of Karajá grammar including interrogative constructions, evidentials, hierarchy, and complementizers and the study done by Fulop and Warren (2014) which focuses on the presence of advanced tongue root in the Karajá vocalic system.
There has been a documentation project done on the Karajá culture and language by the Museo do Índio, coordinated by Cristiane Oliveira through ProDocLín (2016). The project aimed to increase and digitalize data on Karajá language and culture. In addition, the project aimed to create material that can be used in the future to preserve and encourage the safekeeping of the language (such as an encyclopedic dictionary). Members of the project worked with community members in order to teach them techniques in how to use different forms of media and equipment that would aim them in their goal of preserving their language and culture (Museu do Índio, 2016). Beyond language documentation, additional ethnographies include the work of do Socorro Pimentel da Silva (2014) which looks at the negative effects of Portuguese in Karajá culture, such as language endangerment, and the work of Marcus Maia (2001) which also looks at bilingualism within Karajá society but through the lens of the educational system present within Karajá communities.
See also
*Uaica Uaica is a hunter in the story "The Sleep Tree" of the Karajá and Apinaye people of the rain forests in the central and northern Amazonian plateau
Amazonian may refer to:
*Amazonian (Mars), a geologic system and time period on the planet Mars
*Am ...
, hunter in Karajá legend
Notes
References
* Garfield, Seth
''Indigenous Struggle at the Heart of Brazil: State Policy, Frontier Expansion, and the Xavante Indians, 1937–1988.''
Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001. .
* Fortune, David & Fortune, Gretchen (1963). The phonemes of the Karajá language (manuscript). Rio de Janeiro: Arquivo Lingüístico do Museu Nacional.
* Fulop, Sean A. and Ron Warren. (2014). An Acoustic Analysis of Advanced Tongue Root in Harmony in Karajá. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 135, 2292.
* do Socorro Pimentel da Silva. (2004). Fenômeno do bilingüismo na sociedade Karajá e no processo escolar. Línguas Indígenas Americanas. 4. pp. 121.
* Instituto Socioambiental (2016). Karajá. Retrieved from https://pib.socioambiental.org/en/povo/karaja
* Maia, Marcus. (2001). Representações da Educação Karajá. Educação & Sociedade. 22(75). pp. 149–173.
* Maia, Marcus. (2010). The Structure of CP in Karajá. In Information Structure of Indigenous Languages in the Americas: Syntactic Approaches (pp. 171–190). Berlin/New York: De Gruyer Mouton.
* Museo do Índio (2016). Karajá/Iny. Retrieved from http://prodoclin.museudoindio.gov.br/index.php/etnias/karaja
* Ribeiro, Eduardo (2012). A Grammar of Karajá. University of Chicago, Chicago. Museo do Índio (2016). Karajá/Iny. Retrieved from http://prodoclin.museudoindio.gov.br/index.php/etnias/karaja
* Viana, Adriana (1995). A expressão do atributo na língua Karajá. Brasília: Universidade de Brasília.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karaja People
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
Indigenous peoples of Eastern Brazil