The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau are an

indigenous people of Brazil Indigenous peoples in Brazil ( pt, povos indígenas no Brasil) or Indigenous Brazilians ( pt, indígenas brasileiros, links=no) once comprised an estimated 2000 tribes and nations inhabiting what is now the country of Brazil, before European con ...

,''Last Days of Eden: Rondônia's Urueu-Wau-Wau Indians''
Loren McIntyre, National Geographic (December 1988), pp. 800-817 (retrieved 10 Aug 2016) living in the state of

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, ...

. They live in six villages on the borders of the

Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw Indigenous Territory Terra Indigena Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw is an Indigenous territory (Brazil), indigenous territory located in central Rondônia, Brazil. It has a contacted Indian population of around 168 people belonging to Amondaua, Uru Pa In people, Uru Pa In, Juma people, ...

, which is shared by two other contacted groups, the Amondawa and Uru Pa In, the latter who speak a

Chapacuran The Chapacuran languages are a nearly extinct Native American language family of South America. Almost all Chapacuran languages are extinct, and the four that are extant are moribund. They are spoken in Rondônia in the southern Amazon Basin of ...

language, as well as the Jurureí, Parakua, and two uncontacted tribes whose names are not known."Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau: Identification and Demography."
''Povos Indígenas no Brasil.'' (retrieved 26 April 2011)

Name

The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people call themselves Jupaú. They are also (mistakenly) known as the Amondauas, Bocas-negras, Bocas-pretas, Cabeça-vermelha, Cautários, Sotérios, Urupain, as well as Jupaú, Black-Mouths, Red-Heads, Urueu-Wau-Wau.
''World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples.'' (retrieved 22 May 2011)

History

The Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw came into contact with non-Natives, specifically the

National Indian Foundation National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(

FUNAI is a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Daitō, Osaka. Apart from producing its own branded electronic products, it is also an OEM providing assembled televisions and video players/recorders to major corporations such as Sh ...

) in 1981, which was followed by a loss of population. In 1981, there were 250 Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people, but only 89 in 1993. Diseases and violent attacks by outsiders have killed them. Rubber harvesters fought FUNAI's outlines of Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau lands. In 1991, one of the world's largest known tin deposits was discovered in Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau lands. After 1993 their population began increasing again. The

was established by the

Brazilian government The politics of Brazil take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. The political and administrative or ...

to protect the tribes and only Indians can legally live in the indigenous territory; however, loggers and miners have regularly invaded their lands."Massive Invasion of Isolated Indians' Land."
''Survival International.'' 12 Jan 2007 (retrieved 26 April 2011) Missionaries are active among the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, and an NGO called Kanindé is trying to fight outside influences and assimilationists on the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau.

Language

The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau speak one of the nine varieties of the

Kagwahiva Kawahíva (Kawahíb, Kagwahib) is a Tupi–Guarani dialect cluster of Brazil. The major variety is Tenharim. The Tenharim (self-designation, Pyri 'near, together'), Parintintín, Jiahúi, Amondawa, Karipúna (not to be confused with neither th ...

language, a Tupi–Guarani language, Subgroup IV. The language is also known as Uru-Eu-Uau-Uau, Eru-Eu-Wau-Wau, Ureuwawau, or Kagwahiva, and its

ISO 639-3 ISO 639-3:2007, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages – Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages'', is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. It defines three-letter codes for i ...

language code is "urz".

Culture

The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau are

hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

s. They use a poison made from tree bark on their arrows when hunting

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America, with one species inhabit ...

and other game. They are known for their distinctive tattoos around their mouths made from ''genipapo'', a black vegetal dye.

Notes

External links