The Dâw 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 ...

. They live on the right bank of Rio Negro in an area commonly known as Alto Rio Negro in the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

. They share this area together with a number of other indigenous peoples, including the other Nadahup people, which they are closely related to, such as the Nadëb, the

Nukak The Nukak people (also Nukak-Maku people, Makú) live between the Guaviare River, Guaviare and Inírida River, Inírida rivers, in the depths of the tropical humid forest, on the fringe of the Amazon basin, in Guaviare Department, Republic of Co ...

, and the Hup - but also

Arawakan Arawakan (''Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper''), also known as Maipurean (also ''Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre''), is a language family that developed among ancient Indigenous peoples in South America. Branch ...

and Tucanoan peoples, such as the Barasana and Tucano. The word ''Dâw'' is a self-designation, meaning ''people''. In literature, as well as in Alto Rio Negro, they are often referred to as ''Kamã'', but this name is considered very pejorative. During the 1980s the Dâw were close to extinction due to an unbalance between the number of men and women. There were few women, and many of those left were old and unable to conceive. In 1984, the number of Dâw was only 56. Since then, the situation has improved considerably, and the Dâw are no longer threatened by extinction in spite of the low population. Today, all Dâw have the

Dâw language Dâw is a Nadahup language spoken by about one hundred Dâw people in the northwestern part of Amazonas, Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of cou ...

as their

first language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...

, while many also speak Nheengatu and Portuguese. Today, the Dâw are in a permanent contact with non-indigenous people, mostly in the nearby city,

São Gabriel da Cachoeira São Gabriel da Cachoeira (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Saint Gabriel of the Waterfall'') is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located on the northern shore of the Rio Negro (Amazon), Rio Negro River, in the region of Cabeça do Ca ...

References

Notes

General

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daw People Indigenous peoples of the Amazon Rio Negro (Amazon) Indigenous peoples in Brazil