The Arara are an

indigenous people of Brazil Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

native to the state of

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). It is bordered by Acre (state), Acre in the west, Amazonas, Brazil, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bo ...

. They are closely related to the Zoró and Gavião peoples, and are distinct from other groups known as " Arara" to outsiders, including the Arara of

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

and the Kwaza. Their language is part of the

Monde A ''monde'', meaning 'world' in French, is an orb located near the top of a crown. It represents, as the name suggests, the world that the monarch rules. It is the point at which a crown's half arches meet. It is usually topped off either wit ...

branch of the

Tupian languages The Tupi or Tupian language family comprises some 70 languages spoken in South America, of which the best known are Tupi proper and Guarani. Homeland and ''urheimat'' Rodrigues (2007) considers the Proto-Tupian urheimat to be somewhere betwee ...

. The Arara were an

uncontacted tribe Uncontacted peoples are groups of Indigenous peoples living without sustained contact with neighbouring communities and the world community. Groups who decide to remain uncontacted are referred to as indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation. Leg ...

until the 1950s. At the time, they were at war with the neighboring Gavião. Through the Gavião, the Brazilian government contacted the Arara and enforced a peace. Their numbers declined rapidly after contact; only 50 were alive in 1966. The

New Tribes Mission Ethnos360, formerly known as New Tribes Mission (NTM), is an international, theologically evangelical Christian mission organization based in Sanford, Florida, United States. Ethnos360 sends missionaries from local churches around the world ...

introduced medical care, and the population rose to over 200 by the 1990s. The Mission formally converted most Arara to the

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

faith, though the community largely retained their traditional beliefs.

References

Ethnic groups in Brazil Indigenous peoples in Brazil Indigenous peoples of Eastern Brazil {{Brazil-ethno-group-stub