The Paiter, also known as Suruí, Suruí do Jiparaná, and Suruí de Rondônia,
[ 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 ...
, who live in ten villages near the Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...
–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 ...
border. They are farmers, who cultivate coffee.[
]
Language
The Paiter speak the Suruí-Paíter language, which belongs to the Tupi-Guarani language family. Portions of the Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
were translated into Suruí-Paíter in 1991.[
]
Origins
A 2015 genetic study reached a surprising conclusion about the origins of the Surui people. Unlike other Native American peoples, the Surui, Karitiana, and Xavante
The Xavante (also Shavante, Chavante, Akuen, A'uwe, Akwe, Awen, or Akwen) are an indigenous people, comprising about 30,000 individuals within the territory of eastern Mato Grosso state in Brazil. They speak the Xavante language, part of the J� ...
have an ancestry partially related to indigenous populations of the Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...
, New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
, and Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. Scientists speculate that the relationship derives from an earlier people, called "Population Y", in East Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
from whence both groups diverged 15,000 to 30,000 years ago, the future Australasia
Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...
ns migrating south and the remote ancestors of the Surui northward, finding their way to the New World and to the interior Amazon Basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...
.
History
The first prolonged contact with the modern world came in 1969.[ The tribe was decimated by disease; nearly 90 percent died within a few years.
]
Current events
The Surui have recently made headlines as one of the first indigenous people of South America to use high-tech tools (in particular Google Earth
Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...
) to police their territory.[Süddeutsche Zeitun]
"Google Earth - Entdecker am Bildschirm"
Retrieved 28 July 2009. In cooperation with Google Earth Outreach, they can request more detailed satellite photos when they spot suspicious areas. If loggers
Lumberjack is a mostly North American term for workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees. The term usually refers to loggers in the era before 1945 in the United States, when trees were felled us ...
or miners
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...
are detected, they refer the case to the authorities who have them removed. Satellite pictures show that this is highly effective as the Suruí territory is the only intact remaining piece of rainforest in the area.[
The Surui have recently launched a forest carbon project as part of their 50-year tribal management plan. Conceived in 2007, the project hoped to reforest and avoid degradation with Surui lands. A 2010 legal opinion by Baker & McKenzie determined that the Surui own the carbon rights to the territory, setting a precedent for future indigenous-led carbon projects in Brazil.
Significant progress was next made in 2013. The project has now gained verification through the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Alliance as a ]REDD+
REDD+ is a voluntary climate mitigation framework developed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It aims to encourage developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation, enhance forest's ...
project. In September 2013, the Surui Forest Carbon Project transacted its first sale of 120,000 tons of carbon offsets to Brazilian cosmetics firm Natura Cosméticos.
See also
* Indigenous peoples in Brazil
Indigenous peoples in Brazil or Native Brazilians () are the peoples who lived in Brazil before European contact around 1500 and their descendants. Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples once comprised an estimated 2,000 distric ...
* List of Indigenous peoples in Brazil
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paiter People
Ethnic groups in Brazil
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
Indigenous peoples of the Amazon