The Tembé, also Timbé and Tenetehara, 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 ...
, living along the
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 ...
and
Gurupi Rivers,
[ in the state of Amazonas and ]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 ...
.[ Their lands have been encroached and settled by farmers and loggers, who do so illegally, and the Tembé are working to expel the intruders from their territories.][
]
Name
The Tembé call themselves Tenetehara, which means "people," or more specifically the Tenetehara people, of which the Tembé are the western subgroup and the Guajajara are the eastern subgroup. "Tembé" is thought to come from a neighboring tribe's word, ''timbeb'', which means "flat nose."[
]
Language
Tembé people speak the Tembé language
Tenetehára is a Tupi–Guarani language spoken in the state of Maranhão in Brazil. Sociolinguistics, Sociolinguistically, it is two languages, each spoken by the Guajajara and the Tembé people, though these are mutually intelligible. Tembé ...
, a Tupi-Guarani language. It is mutually intelligible with the Guajajára language.[
]
Notes
External links
Tembé headdress
collection of the National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers.
The museum has three ...
Ethnic groups in Brazil
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
Indigenous peoples of the Amazon
{{brazil-ethno-group-stub