The Caeté ( Caetés) were an
Indigenous people
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
of
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, linguistically belonging to the
Tupi people
The Tupi people, a subdivision of the Tupi-Guarani linguistic families, were one of the largest groups of indigenous peoples in Brazil before its colonization. Scholars believe that while they first settled in the Amazon rainforest, from abo ...
. Their descendants number around 135.
Origin

The Tupi people were a large group of indigenous people who populated Brazil's coast, and they were among the first natives that the Portuguese encountered when they arrived in South America. The Tupi were divided into several tribes such as the:
Tupiniquim,
Tupinambá,
Potiguara
The Potiguara (also Potyguara or Pitiguara) are an indigenous peoples in Brazil, indigenous people of Brazil. The Potiguara people live in Paraíba, in the municipalities of Marcação, Baía da Traição and Rio Tinto, Paraíba, Rio Tinto. Th ...
,
Tabajara
Tabajara (; Tabajaras) are an Indigenous people of Brazil who lived on the easternmost portion of the Atlantic coast of northeast Brazil in the period before and during Portuguese colonization. Their territory extended from Ilha de Itamarac ...
, Temiminó, Tamoio, and Caeté. This tribe was estimated to contain approximately 300–2,000 people in the early 1500s, but their population eventually diminished greatly due to European diseases and slavery once the Portuguese began to settle in Brazil. The many different tribes of the Tupi people, including the Caetés, were constantly at war with each other as the Tupi were not a unified people, despite the fact that they were related linguistically. The Tupi would often attempt to capture their enemies with the intention of using them later in cannibalistic rituals. The Caeté had a reputation for being particularly violent in their battles, but they were also skilled in agriculture as they grew a variety of crops such as
corn
Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...
,
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...
s,
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
,
squash,
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
, and much more.
Enslavement
During the 16th Century, the Caeté tribe inhabited the Brazilian coast from the mouth of the
São Francisco River
The São Francisco River (, ) is a large Rivers of Brazil, river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil (after the Amazon R ...
to the
island of Itamaracá, by the
River Paraíba, in an area limited, in the north, by the land of the
Potiguaras and, in the south, by
Tupinambás. With the arrival of the Portuguese, who allied with their enemies, the Tupinambás, the Caetés migrated inland, and some
settlements survived in the state 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 ...
, in Northern Brazil. The arrival of the Portuguese brought many hardships upon the Caetés, as well as the other tribes in the region, as they were now exposed to many of the European illnesses that the Portuguese brought with them, such as
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
. In addition to being exposed to foreign diseases, the Portuguese began to enslave the indigenous people in large quantities. Those who were not enslaved were either killed or required to
assimilate into European culture. Out of the Tupi tribes that were enslaved, the Caeté tribe along with the Tamoio tribe were known to resist in a violent manner. The enslavement of the Caeté people saw its peak during the 1550s to the 1560s and did not decrease until 1570 when the first law concerning slavery in Brazil was developed. Prior to 1570,
Manuel da Nóbrega, who disagreed with the way the Caeté people were being treated, made an effort to pass such a law. As a prominent
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
priest, Nóbrega had a great influence throughout the history of Brazil, and one of his goals was to achieve peace between the natives and the colonists. His father, Baltasar da Nóbrega, was a prominent
judge
A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
of justice in Portugal. Manuel da Nóbrega took after his father by attending the
University of Coimbra
The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The university ...
where he received his baccalaureate in
Canon Law
Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
and philosophy. In his attempt to develop laws regarding slavery, Manuel da Nóbrega asked King
John III of Portugal
John III ( ; 6 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious ( Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarve from 1521 until he died in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of ...
if he could establish an
episcopacy
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...
in Brazil and King John III granted his request. During this process, one of Nóbrega's biggest opponents was the first bishop of Brazil (
Pero Fernandes Sardinha), who happened to promote the idea of the "native-hunt". However, after Sardinha was captured and eaten by the Caeté people, and after Nóbrega himself received multiple threats about being killed and eaten, he changed his mind regarding the mission.
Cannibalism
The Caetés, like many other indigenous people on the coast of Brazil, practiced a ritual form of
cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...
. It was a common belief among the Caetés, and the many other tribes included in the Tupi people, that the act of cannibalism and the digestion of an enemy would lead to the absorption of that enemy's strength. As they also believed that weakness could be absorbed from those they consumed, they were cautious to only absorb the essence of enemy warriors that they perceived to be of noticeable strength and courage. The Caeté people considered it an honor, even when captured, to be sacrificed for this
ritual
A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...
as it meant they had fought valiantly in battle and were considered the most superior warriors in their tribe. Cannibalism amongst the Caeté and other various Tupi tribes in the region decreased greatly upon the arrival of the Portuguese in the early 1500s; however, this ritual was not completely absent in the culture. For example, there was a report that the Caeté people had eaten one of the first Catholic bishops (Pedro Fernandes Sardinha), to arrive in Brazil in 1556, the Caetés were considered "enemies of the civilized world" and were chased and killed in large numbers by the Portuguese with the added help of the fully armed
Tupinambá tribes. During this occurrence, the Caeté took over the ship that Sardinha was on and ate all of the passengers on board with the exception of a few who survived to report this incident. As a result, the Caetés became an even bigger target of Portuguese attacks as they were now considered to be completely savage people.
Literary reputation

The negative reputation of the Caeté people was so strong that the Caeté people even left a mark in the literary world. For example, in the influential
epic poem
In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...
''
Caramuru'' written by
Santa Rita Durão in 1781, the Caeté people were presented as the enemy of
Caramuru and
Paraguaçu. The Caeté people were also featured in multiple works by the author
Nísia Floresta. The poem ''A Lágrima de um Caeté'' which was written by Floresta was deemed to be unique due to her use of a Caeté Indian as the main character and hero. Both prior to and after this poem was written, standard Indianist literature selected heroes from peaceable Indian tribes who favored the Portuguese. Since these characteristics are not descriptive of the Caeté tribe, it is suggested that Floresta chose this Caeté man as a hero due to his persistence to continue fighting even while being oppressed. She used this character to show that the Caeté tribe demonstrated great courage while being mistreated meanwhile the Portuguese acted in a cowardly manner. In another work by Floresta, she incorporates a character from the Caeté tribe who is extremely barbaric in nature and expresses a great need to be civilized. These two traits the character possessed were well-known attributes of the Caeté tribe. Floresta uses this character from the Caeté tribe to represent her own desire for Brazil to become civilized at an equal status with Europe. The Caeté people suffered greatly from many oppressors but never went down without a fight. Floresta's poems used the Caeté people in a way most had never seen them and highlighted their fierceness and independence.
Influence
During the first period of Portuguese settlement in Brazil, the Caeté people unceasingly resisted European efforts to colonize. Once the majority of the population had been exposed to diseases or enslaved, most of the Caeté people died off. Those who did survive though began to assimilate into Portuguese culture. Therefore,
miscegenation
Miscegenation ( ) is marriage or admixture between people who are members of different races or ethnicities. It has occurred many times throughout history, in many places. It has occasionally been controversial or illegal. Adjectives describin ...
began when Portuguese settlers began to rape the indigenous women. The Portuguese forced their influence upon the assimilated Caeté people, which led to the disappearance of the natives' traditions, rituals, language, and culture. Although there are remains of Caeté pottery in many parts of inland Brazil, and evidence of their survival in Northern Brazil, they are now extinct.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caete people
Cannibalism in South America
Extinct Indigenous peoples in Brazil