The Gavião are 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 ...

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 ...

, part of the

Jê peoples Jê or Gê are the people who spoke Jê languages of the northern South American Caribbean coast and Brazil. In Brazil, the Jê were found in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Piauí, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Tocantins, Maranhão, and as far south ...

. They are divided into two groups: the Parkatêjê living on the

Tocantins River The Tocantins River ( , Parkatêjê dialect, Parkatêjê: ''Pyti'' ɨˈti is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (''Tukã'' for "toucan" and ''Ti'' for "beak"). It ...

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 ...

, and the of the state of

Maranhão Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it ...

. There were about 175 Parkatêjê and over 300 Pykobjê as of the 1990s. They traditionally spoke dialects of the

Timbira language Timbira is a dialect continuum of the Northern Jê language group of the Jê languages ̣( Macro-Jê) spoken in Brazil. The various dialects are distinct enough to sometimes be considered separate languages. The principal varieties, Krahô Lauri ...

. The Gavião consistently resisted Brazilian incursions until 1857, when they were nearly exterminated by an army expedition. In the 1950s, they suffered greatly from encroachments on their territory and introduced diseases. Their traditional lifestyle was decimated and the Gavião became reliant on government aid. The

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

launched a program to develop a Gavião nut gathering business to sustain the tribes.

References

{{authority control Ethnic groups in Brazil Indigenous peoples in Brazil