The Zuruahã (also Suruahá, Indios do Coxodoá, and Suruwahá) are an indigenous people of Brazil, living along the Purus River in the state of Amazonas.[1]
Total population | |
---|---|
142[1] (2010) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Brazil ( Amazonas) | |
Languages | |
Zuruahã | |
Religion | |
traditional tribal religion[2] | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Jokihidawa, Nakydanidawa, Sarakoadawa, Korobidawa, Masanidawa, Ydahidawa, and Zamadawa[3] |
History
editThe Zuruahã are an amalgamation of other tribes fleeing disease and violence, especially from the rubber boom. Some of the original Zuruahã traded with the rubber tappers but the tribe contracted influenza, resulting in a high death rate, from 1922 to 1924. The survivors withdrew away from non-native settlements.[3]
They enjoyed relative isolation from non-natives until the 1970s when missionaries and latex extractors entered their traditional territory. Daniel Everett reports that after first contact with the outside world, some Zuruahá, including eight in a day, have begun to commit suicide by drinking curare.[4] Pressures on their territories results in increased suicide by the Zuruahã.[1] Sustained contact began in 1980. They are hunter-gatherers.[2]
In 1984, the Zuruahã Project was created to mitigate the adverse effects of outside contact on the Zuruahã people.[3]
In 2018 they were contacted to receive dental prostheses, a key element for their survival.[5]
Language
editZuruahã people speak the Zuruahã language, an Arawá language.[2]
Notes
edit- ^ a b c "Zuruahã: Introduction." Povos Indígenas no Brasil. (retrieved 25 April 2011)
- ^ a b c "Suruahá." Ethnologue. Retrieved 1 Feb 2012.
- ^ a b c "Zuruahã: History." Povos Indígenas no Brasil. (retrieved 25 April 2011)
- ^ Everett, Daniel L. "From Threatened Languages to Threatened Lives". Endangered Language Repository at YourDictionary. Archived from the original on 26 January 2002. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "Associação Doutores Sem Fronteiras leva atendimento odontológico a comunidades indígenas - G1 Rondônia - Catálogo de Vídeos". Retrieved Apr 28, 2020 – via g1.globo.com.
External links
edit- "Hakani," information about a popular hoax film about the Zuruahã, Survival International