Nambikwara

ethnic group
group=Nambikwara
poptime=approx. 1,200 [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=nab]
popplace=Mato Grosso, Brazil
rels=Christian, Animist
langs=Nambikwara, some also speak Portuguese.
related=noneThe Nambikwara (also called Nambikuára) is an indigenous people of the Brazilan Amazon. Currently ca. 1,200 Nambikwara live federal reservations in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso along the Guaporé and Juruena rivers. Their villages are accessible from the Pan-American highway. [Kroeker, 2001, p.1]

The Nambikwara were first contacted in 1770 but did not experience prolonged contact with Europeans until the early 20th century, When Brazilian army official Marechal Cândido Rondon passed through Nambikwara territory to extend the telegraph lines. He estimated that there were around 10,000 Nambikwara. Shortly after contact with European Brazilians epidemics of measles and smallpox decimated the population to only 500 around 1930. [Kroeker, 2001, p.1]

The culture of the Nambikwara was the subject of studies by French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, which was then subjected to a deconstruction by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his work "Of Grammatology".

Bands and subgroups

The Nambikuara Nation is composed of many smaller bands which each have their own name.
* Nambikwara do Sarare
** Kabixí do Mato Grosso
* Nambikwara do Campo of Mato Grosso — Rondônia
** Halotesu
** Hithaulu
** Sawentesu
** Wakalitesu
* Nambikwara do Norte of Rondônia — Mato Grosso
** Lakondê
** Latundê, A.I. Tubarão-Latunde.
** Mamaindê, A.I. Pirineus de Souza, and A.I. Vale do Guaporé
** Nambikwara
** Manduka, A.I. Pirineus de Souza
** Negarotê, A.I. Vale do Guaporé
** Tagnaní
** Tamaindé
** Tawandê
** Tawitê or Tauite.
* Nambikwara do Sul of Mato Grosso
** Alaketesu
** Alantesu
** Galera
** Hahaintesu, A.I. Vale do Guaporé
** Kabixí
** Munduka
** Waikisu, A.I. Vale do Guaporé
** Wasusu, A.I. Vale do Guaporé

*Sabanê
** Sabanê, A.I. Pirineus de Souza

References

*Kroeker, Menno (2001) A descriptive Grammar of Nambikuara, IJAL 67 No. 1. January. pp 1 - 87.

*Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1948) "La vie familiale et sociale des indiens nambikwara", Journal de la Société des américanistes 37, Paris.

*Williams, Suzanne (1983), Land Rights and the Manipulation of Identity: Official Indian Policy in Brazil, Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 137-161
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=nab Ethnologue on Nambikwara]