Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau
Encyclopedia
The Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw are an indigenous people of Brazil, living in the state of Rondônia
Rondônia
Rondônia is a state in Brazil, located in the north-western part of the country. To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, and in the south is Bolivia. Its capital is Porto Velho. The state was named after Candido Rondon...

.

They live in six villages on the borders of Terra Indigena Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw
Terra Indigena Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw
Terra Indigena Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw is an Indigenous Territory located in central Rondônia, Brazil. It has a contacted Indian population of around 168 people belonging to Amondaua, Uru Pa In, Juma, and Jupaú tribes . There remains an unknown number of uncontacted Indians who belongs to 4 to 6 different...

, which is shared by three sub-groups, the Amondawa, Jupaú, and Uru Pa In, as well as the Jurureí
Jururei
Jururei is a tiny uncontacted Indian tribe numbering 8-10 people living in the Parque Nacional Pakaas Novas inside the Terra Indigena Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw in Rondônia State, Brazil. In 2005 their land was invaded by loggers who tried to wipe them out. It is not known how many of the tribespeople were...

, Parakua, and two uncontacted tribes whose names are not known.

Name

They are also known as the Amondauas, Bocas-negras, Bocas-pretas, Cabeça-vermelha, Cautários, Sotérios, Urupain, as well as Jupaú, Black-Mouths, Red-Heads, Urueu-Wau-Wau.

History

The Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw came into contact with non-Natives, specifically the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI
Funai
Funai Electric is a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Daitō, Osaka. The company was founded in 1961. It owns the subsidiary Funai Corporation, Inc., established in the United States since 1991, to market and maintain Funai-licensed brands such as Sylvania, Emerson Radio,...

) in 1981, which was followed by a loss of population. In 1981, there were 250 Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people, but only 89 in 1993. Diseases and violent attacks by outsiders have killed them. Rubber harvesters fought FUNAI's outlines of Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau lands. In 1991, one of the world's largest known tin deposits was discovered in Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau lands.

After 1993 their population began increasing again. The Terra Indigena Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw
Terra Indigena Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw
Terra Indigena Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw is an Indigenous Territory located in central Rondônia, Brazil. It has a contacted Indian population of around 168 people belonging to Amondaua, Uru Pa In, Juma, and Jupaú tribes . There remains an unknown number of uncontacted Indians who belongs to 4 to 6 different...

 was established by the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian government to protect the tribes and only Indians can legally live in the Indigenous Territory
Indigenous Territory
In Brazil, Indigenous Territories or Indigenous Lands are areas inhabited and exclusively possessed by indigenous people. The Brazilian Constitution recognises the inalienable right of indigenous peoples to lands they "traditionally occupy"Further defined as those lands "on which they live on a...

; however, loggers and miners have regularly invaded their lands. Missionaries are active among the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, and an NGO called Kanindé is trying to fight outside influences and assimilationists on the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau.

Language

The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau speak the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau language, a Tupi–Guarani language, Subgroup IV. The language is also known as Uru-Eu-Uau-Uau, Eru-Eu-Wau-Wau, Ureuwawau, or Kagwahiva, and its ISO 639-3
ISO 639-3
ISO 639-3:2007, Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages, is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages. It extends the ISO 639-2...

 language code is "urz".

Culture

The Uru-Eu-Uaw-Uaw are hunter-gatherer
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...

s. They use a poison made from tree bark on their arrows when hunting tapir
Tapir
A Tapir is a large browsing mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. There are four species of Tapirs: the Brazilian Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, Baird's Tapir and the Mountain...

 and other game. They are known for their distinctive tattoos around their mouths made from genipapo, a black vegetal dye.

See also

  • Friends of Peoples Close to Nature
    Friends of Peoples Close to Nature
    Friends of Peoples Close to Nature is a non-governmental human rights organization that works in the field of indigenous rights. The organization is dedicated to the survival of tribal peoples, in particular hunter-gatherers...

    , an NGO human rights organization that has worked with the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau
  • Ten Thousand Years Older
    Ten Thousand Years Older
    Ten Thousand Years Older is a 2002 documentary film by Werner Herzog about the Amondauas people of Brazil. The ten minute film was produced and included as part of the Ten Minutes Older project, released in the collection The Trumpet....

    , 2002 documentary film about the tribes

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK