indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
, living 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 ...
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
.
The Sikiana in Brazil live between the Cafuini River and headwaters of the Turuna and Itapi close to border with Suriname. The group in Suriname lives in
Kwamalasamutu
Kwamalasamutu, also Kwamalasamoetoe, is a Tiriyó Amerindian village in the Sipaliwini District of Suriname, and home to the granman (paramount chief) of the northern Trios. Kwamalasamutu is the biggest village of the Tiriyó tribe.
History
The ...
. The group in Venezuela is probably extinct.
The ''1916 Encyclopaedia of the Dutch West Indies'' placed the Sikiana at the
Trombetas River
The Trombetas is a large river on the northern side of the Amazon River.
Course
The Trombetas is long, and is navigable by 500 ton vessels for a stretch of . The Trombetas river gives birth to very many rivers, including the Anamu river.
It is ...
in Brazil, and said that they had a close relationship with the Salumá and the Tiriyó.
Name
The Sikiana are also called Chikena, Chiquena, Chiquiana, Shikiana, Sikiâna, Sikiyana, Sikiána, Sikïiyana, Tshikiana, Xikiyana, or Xikujana people.
Language
The
Sikiana language
Sikiana, or Kashuyana (also called Chikena, Chiquena, Chiquiana, Shikiana, Sikiâna, Sikïiyana, Xikiyana, Xikujana) is a Carib language that was spoken by 33 people in Brazil and 15 people in Suriname. It was spoken in Venezuela
Venez ...
belongs to the Carib language family. The people in Suriname speak Tiriyó as a second language. Some Sikiana people in Venezuela speak the Tiriyó.