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The Palikur (alternate names Aricours, Aukuyene, Karipúna-Palikúr, Palicur, Palijur, Palikour, Paricura, Paricuri, Parucuria, Parikwenê) are an Arawak-speaking
Arawak

The term Arawak , was used to designate some of the peoples encountered by the Spain in the West Indies in 1492 and thereafter. These include the Ta?no, who occupied the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas and Bimini Florida, the Nepoya and Suppoyo of Trinidad and the Igneri, who were supposed to have preceded the Caribs in the Lesser Anti...
 group located in the riverine areas of the Brazilian state of Amapa
Amapá

Amap? is one of the States of Brazil of Brazil, located in the extreme north, bordering French Guiana and Suriname to the north. To the east is the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south and west is the Brazilian state of Par?....
 and the eastern border area of French Guiana
French Guiana

French Guiana is an overseas department of France, located on the northern coast of South America. Like the other Overseas departments, French Guiana is also an overseas region of France, one of the 26 regions of France, and is an integral part of the French Republic....
, on the left bank of the Oyapock River
Oyapock River

The Oyapock or Oiapoque River is a 370-km long river in South America that forms most of the border between French Guiana and the Brazilian States of Brazil of Amapá....
. The latest figures available show a population of 1,300, of which 800 live in Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
 and 500 in French Guiana
French Guiana

French Guiana is an overseas department of France, located on the northern coast of South America. Like the other Overseas departments, French Guiana is also an overseas region of France, one of the 26 regions of France, and is an integral part of the French Republic....
.
History
The location of the Palikur near the mouths of the Amazon
Amazon River

The Amazon River of South America is the list of rivers by length in the world by volume, with a total river flow greater than the next top eight largest rivers combined....
 made them one of the first Amazonian tribes ever encountered by Europeans.






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The Palikur (alternate names Aricours, Aukuyene, Karipúna-Palikúr, Palicur, Palijur, Palikour, Paricura, Paricuri, Parucuria, Parikwenê) are an Arawak-speaking
Arawak

The term Arawak , was used to designate some of the peoples encountered by the Spain in the West Indies in 1492 and thereafter. These include the Ta?no, who occupied the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas and Bimini Florida, the Nepoya and Suppoyo of Trinidad and the Igneri, who were supposed to have preceded the Caribs in the Lesser Anti...
 group located in the riverine areas of the Brazilian state of Amapa
Amapá

Amap? is one of the States of Brazil of Brazil, located in the extreme north, bordering French Guiana and Suriname to the north. To the east is the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south and west is the Brazilian state of Par?....
 and the eastern border area of French Guiana
French Guiana

French Guiana is an overseas department of France, located on the northern coast of South America. Like the other Overseas departments, French Guiana is also an overseas region of France, one of the 26 regions of France, and is an integral part of the French Republic....
, on the left bank of the Oyapock River
Oyapock River

The Oyapock or Oiapoque River is a 370-km long river in South America that forms most of the border between French Guiana and the Brazilian States of Brazil of Amapá....
. The latest figures available show a population of 1,300, of which 800 live in Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
 and 500 in French Guiana
French Guiana

French Guiana is an overseas department of France, located on the northern coast of South America. Like the other Overseas departments, French Guiana is also an overseas region of France, one of the 26 regions of France, and is an integral part of the French Republic....
.

History


The location of the Palikur near the mouths of the Amazon
Amazon River

The Amazon River of South America is the list of rivers by length in the world by volume, with a total river flow greater than the next top eight largest rivers combined....
 made them one of the first Amazonian tribes ever encountered by Europeans. As early as 1507 their name was recorded by the Spanish explorer Vicente Yañez Pinzón
Vicente Yáñez Pinzón

Vicente Y??ez Pinz?n was a Spain navigator, exploration, and conquistador. Along with his older brother Mart?n Alonso Pinz?n, he sailed with Christopher Columbus on the first voyage to the New World in 1492, as captain of Ni?a....
. By the middle of the 17th century there was an estimated 1,200 Palikur population, of which 400 bowmen, roughly one third of the total indigenous population living between the Cassiporé and Maroni rivers. They were enaged in a century-long war with the Galibi
Galibi

The Galibi were a Cariban languages people who lived in the Lesser Antilles and northern South America at the time of European colonization of the Americas....
, and resisted evangelization. A Portuguese expedition of the late 18th century burned all Indian villages of the region, which was then under French influence, and moved the Palikur into the interior of Brazil. Consequently, the Palikur remained isolated for much of the next century. After the disputed territory was finally conceded to Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
 in 1900, the Brazilian government deported the immigrants from French Guiana
French Guiana

French Guiana is an overseas department of France, located on the northern coast of South America. Like the other Overseas departments, French Guiana is also an overseas region of France, one of the 26 regions of France, and is an integral part of the French Republic....
. More sympathetic towards the Creols than the Brazilians, the Palikur, with the exception of one family, moved to French Guiana
French Guiana

French Guiana is an overseas department of France, located on the northern coast of South America. Like the other Overseas departments, French Guiana is also an overseas region of France, one of the 26 regions of France, and is an integral part of the French Republic....
. They numbered between 200 and 300 individuals.

The majority of Brazilian despised the Indians, and on their side, the Palikur had not forgotten their ancestors enslavement by the Portuguese. In 1942 the Brazilian Indian Protection Service (SPI
SPI

SPI may refer to:...
) installed a Nationalizatin Service in the area with the purpose of integrating the natives, but with limited success. As an example, the Palikur elders refused schooling to their people because they perceived it as a form of slavery
Slavery

Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
. Not until the late 1960s, with the creation of FUNAI
Funai

was established in 1961 in Osaka, Japan. Funai in Japan is engaged in the development, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of information and communication equipment such as Internet access terminals, computer peripherals, audio-visual devices, televisions, VCRs, DVD players, and home electrical appliances....
, and as they began converting to Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism

Pentecostalism is a renewalist religious movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on the direct personal experience of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit....
, did the Palikur became more responsive to the Brazilian government. Between 1977 and 1981 FUNAI
Funai

was established in 1961 in Osaka, Japan. Funai in Japan is engaged in the development, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of information and communication equipment such as Internet access terminals, computer peripherals, audio-visual devices, televisions, VCRs, DVD players, and home electrical appliances....
 demarcated a common area of 4347 sq. km for the Palikur, Uaçá Galibi
Galibi

The Galibi were a Cariban languages people who lived in the Lesser Antilles and northern South America at the time of European colonization of the Americas....
, and Karipúna
Karipúna

Karip?na is a now extinct mixed language with Galibi vocabulary and Palikur syntax, genetically a dialect close to Island Carib and typologically of similar formation through relexification as Media Lengua....
. In 1980 a Pentecostal church was built in the village of Ukumene, gathering a population of 350, nearly two third of the then Brazilian Palikuri population, and more than a third of the global Palikuris.

Economy


The Palikur subsist largely on bow and arrowfishing
Fishing

Fishing is the activity of catching fish. Fishing techniques include Fish net, Fish trap, Spearfishing, angling and Gathering seafood by hand. The term fishing may be applied to catching other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, Edible frog and some edible marine invertebrates....
, supplemented by hunting
Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to law....
 and horticulture
Horticulture

'Horticulture' is the industry and science of plant cultivation. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, Crop , plant breeding and genetic engineering, plant biochemistry, and plant physiology....
. Manioc, roasted, or used for the preparation of flat cakes and beer, is the main cultivated plant. Sweet potatoes, sugarcane
Sugarcane

Sugarcane is a genus of 6 to 37 species of tall perennial plant Poaceae , native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Old World. They have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar and measure 2 to 6 meters tall....
, peppers
Capsicum

Capsicum is a genus of plants from the nightshade family native to the Americas, where it was cultivated for thousands of years by the people of the tropical Americas, and is now cultivated worldwide....
, gourds, cotton
Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
, and papayas, which the Palikur have adopted from the Europeans, along with mangoes, coffee
Coffee

Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the Coffea. Caffeinated coffee has a stimulating effect in humans....
, and citrus trees, are also cultivated. Commercial relations between the Palikur and the Europeans began to intensify in the early 18th century; river and forest products were exchanged for tools, harpoons, clothes and glass beads. Until the end of the 19th century the main commercial surplus was roasted manioc flour
Flour

Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history....
. In the 1940s and 1950s an intense commerce with aligator skins took place, until the aligator population was depleted. The Palikur manufacture objects of wood, bone, feathers, and cotton seed. Shotguns for hunting
Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to law....
 and harpoons and cotton fishing
Fishing

Fishing is the activity of catching fish. Fishing techniques include Fish net, Fish trap, Spearfishing, angling and Gathering seafood by hand. The term fishing may be applied to catching other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, Edible frog and some edible marine invertebrates....
 lines are being widely used at the present.