Tabajara were one of the Tupi

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 confl ...

s of

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 ...

who lived on the easternmost portion of the Atlantic coast of northeast Brazil in the period before and during Portuguese colonization. Their territory included portions of the modern states of Ceara, Paraiba, Rio Grande do Norte, and Pernambuco. The name means ''lord of the village'' from Tupi-Guarani ''taba'' village, and ''jara'' lord. During the colonial period, populations of Indians, Tabajara among them, were decimated by being slaughtered by the colonists, driven inland, enslaved, dying of European introduced diseases and by intermarrying. They currently live in the regions of

Poranga Poranga is a municipality in the state of Ceará in the Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Ceará This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Ceará (CE), located in the Northeast Region of Brazil. Cear ...

Monsenhor Tabosa Monsenhor Tabosa is a municipality in the state of Ceará in the Northeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Ceará This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Ceará (CE), located in the Northeast Region of Bra ...

, Tamboril,

Crateús Crateús is a Brazilian city in the northwest of the state of Ceará in Northeastern Brazil with an estimated 75,159 inhabitants, and one of the most important and oldest cities in the county. Popularly known as the Capital of the West, it is a ...

and

Quiterianópolis Quiterianópolis is a municipality in southwestern portion of the state of Ceará near the western border in the Northeast region of Brazil. Its 2020 population (IBGE) was 21,166 inhabitants. Latitude: -5°50'32.99", Longitude: -40°42'0.78". T ...

and in the backcountry of Ceará.

History

The Tabajara were allies of the French during their occupation of

Maranhão Island Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

(now the city and island of São Luis) in 1612-1615

History

Further reading