The Zuruahã (also Suruahá, Indios do Coxodoá, and Suruwahá) 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 ...
, living along the
Purus River
The Purus River (Portuguese: ''Rio Purus''; Spanish: ''Río Purús'') is a tributary of the Amazon River in South America. Its drainage basin is , and the mean annual discharge is . The river shares its name with the Alto Purús National Park and ...
in the state of
Amazonas.
[
]
History
The Zuruahã are an amalgamation of other tribes fleeing disease and violence, especially from the rubber boom
The Amazon rubber boom ( pt, Ciclo da borracha, ; es, Fiebre del caucho, , 1879 to 1912) was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related to the extraction and comm ...
. Some of the original Zuruahã traded with the rubber tappers but the tribe contracted influenza, resulting in a high death rate, from 1922 to 1924. The survivors withdrew away from non-native settlements.[
They enjoyed relative isolation from non-natives until the 1970s when missionaries and latex extractors entered their traditional territory. ]Daniel Everett
Daniel Leonard Everett (born 26 July 1951) is an American linguist and author best known for his study of the Amazon basin's Pirahã people and their language.
Everett is currently Trustee Professor of Cognitive Sciences at Bentley University ...
reports that after first contact with the outside world, some Zuruahá, including eight in a day, have begun to commit suicide by drinking curare
Curare ( /kʊˈrɑːri/ or /kjʊˈrɑːri/; ''koo-rah-ree'' or ''kyoo-rah-ree'') is a common name for various alkaloid arrow poisons originating from plant extracts. Used as a paralyzing agent by indigenous peoples in Central and South ...
. Pressures on their territories results in increased suicide by the Zuruahã.[ Sustained contact began in 1980. They are hunter-gatherers.][
In 1984, the Zuruahã Project was created to mitigate the adverse effects of outside contact on the Zuruahã people.][
In 2018 they were contacted to receive dental prostheses, a key element for their survival.]
Language
Zuruahã people speak the Zuruahã language, an Arawá language
Arawá ( Aruá) is an extinct language of 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, ...
.[
]
Notes
External links
"Hakani," information about a popular hoax film about the Zuruahã
Survival International
Ethnic groups in Brazil
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
Indigenous peoples of the Amazon
Hunter-gatherers of South America
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