The Taruma (Saloema in Suriname; Tarənos in the Tiriyó language) are an indigenous people found in the northern

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 ...

, southern

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

, and southern

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

. They used to speak Taruma which is considered critically endangered. The Taruma in Suriname have merged with the Tiriyó, in Brazil they merged with the Wai-wai. The

Wapishana The Wapishana or Wapichan (or Wapisiana, Wapitxana, Vapidiana, Wapixana) are an indigenous group found in the Roraima area of northern Brazil and southern Guyana. Location Currently the Wapishana are located in the State of Roraima, Brazil, nort ...

village of

Maruranau Maruranau (Wapishana: Marora Naawa; also: ''Maruranawa'') is an indigenous village of Wapishana Amerindians in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo Region of Guyana. It is located in the Rupununi savannah near the Kwitaro River on the edge of the Kan ...

in Guyana still recognises the tribe.

History

The Taruma used to inhabit the Kutari,

Trombetas 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 ...

and the

Paru de Oeste River The Paru de Oeste River (Erepecuru River) is a tributary of the Trombetas River in Pará in north-central Brazil. Geography In addition to the main river, it has a "loop" known as the Cuminá River, which finally merges into the Paru de Oeste Riv ...

s. They used to trade extensively with the Tiriyó people and the Ndyuka and specialised in

hunting dog A hunting dog is a canine that hunts with or for hunters. There are several different types of hunting dog developed for various tasks and purposes. The major categories of hunting dog include hounds, terriers, dachshunds, cur type dogs, and g ...

s. The ''Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië'' of 1917 remarked that they should not be confused with the Taruma on the Essequibo River, because they spoke a different language; however, they are probably the same people, and those living along the Essequibo had lost their language due to contact with the Wai-wai. In 1843, first contact was made by Robert Schomburgk at the source of the Trombetas. In 1907,

Claudius de Goeje Claudius Henricus de Goeje (4 May 1879 – 8 June 1955) was a Dutch Navy officer and cartographer, who took a special interest in the Wayana and Tiriyó peoples he encountered on his expeditions to the interior of Suriname. For his lifelong in ...

led the Tumuk Humak expedition. The Ndyuka guides did not want to pass through the Taruma-held territory because of hostility between the two people, but de Goeje decided to contact the group, because he needed local guides to reach the Sipaliwini River. In 1910 they were visited by

Johan Eilerts de Haan Johannes Gijsbert Willem Jacobus (Johan) Eilerts de Haan (born in Noordwolde, October 3, 1865 - died in the interior of Suriname, August 29, 1910) was a Dutch explorer and soldier. Eilerts de Haan Nature Park in Suriname is named for him. Biog ...

as part of the Courantyne expedition who noted that the Taruma lived on the Kutari and the Tiriyó on the Sipaliwini. In the 1930s there was a war between the Tiriyó and Taruma in the Suriname-Brazil border area which resulted in the Taruma moving further south into Brazil. The Taruma have since been considered a lost tribe in Suriname. In Guyana, they are also not listed as an Amerindian tribe. During the 1960s, the Amerindians in Suriname and Brasil were concentrated in larger villages by the North-American missionaries. In 1963 and 1964, they were visited by the anthropologist

Peter Rivière Peter G. Rivière (born 1934) is a British social anthropologist, Emeritus Professor of Oxford University and, with Audrey Butt Colson, a pioneer in the study and teaching of Amazonian peoples in England. In 1957-8 he took part in the Oxford a ...

. During a visit a Tiriyó told him: "Those Tiriyós in

Alalapadu Alalapadu is a Tiriyó village in the Sipaliwini District of Suriname. The village was founded by Baptist missionaries next to the Alalapadu Airstrip in order to concentrate the Tiriyó of the area in one central village. History In 1961 the m ...

are not really Tiriyós, but Tarənos". After investigating, it turned out that Taruma had merged with the Tiriyó and they presently have a minority presence in Kwamalasamutu, Suriname. The Taruma on the Brazilian and Guyanese side had merged into the Wai-wai. A group is living with the Wapishana in

, Guyana, and they are recognised by the Wapishana community.

References

{{Ethnic groups in Suriname Indigenous peoples in Brazil Indigenous peoples in Guyana Indigenous peoples in Suriname Indigenous peoples of the Guianas