This is a list of the Brazil's Indigenous or Native peoples.
This is a sortable listing of peoples, associated language families, Indigenous locations, and population estimates with dates. A particular group listing may include more than one area because the group is distributed in more than one area.
The Indigenous peoples in Brazil (Portuguese : povos indígenas no Brasil) comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups, who have inhabited the country prior to the European. The word índios ("Indians"), was by then established to designate the people of the Americas and is still used today in the Portuguese language to designate these peoples, while the people of Asiatic India are called indianos.
At the time of first European contact, some of the Indigenous peoples were traditionally semi-nomadic tribes who subsisted on hunting, fishing, gathering, agriculture, and arboriculture. Many of the estimated 2,000 nations and tribes which existed in the 16th century died out as a consequence of the European settlement. Most of the Indigenous population died due to European diseases and warfare, declining from an estimated pre-Columbian high of millions to some 300,000 in 1997, grouped into some 200 tribes. A few tribes were assimilated into the Brazilian population.
In 2007, FUNAI reported that it had confirmed the presence of 67 different uncontacted tribes in Brazil, an increase from 40 in 2005. With this addition Brazil has now surpassed New Guinea as the country having the largest number of uncontacted peoples.
Seven Terras Indígenas (TI) (Reservations) are exclusively reserved for isolated people:
Rondônia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country. It is bordered by Acre in the west, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bolivia in the south. Rondônia has a population of 1,815,000 as of 2021. It is the fifth least populated state. Its capital and largest city is Porto Velho, bathed by the Madeira River. The state was named after Cândido Rondon, who explored the north of the country during the 1910s. The state, which is home to c. 0.7% of the Brazilian population, is responsible for c. 0.3% of the Brazilian GDP.
Baniwa are indigenous South Americans, who speak the Baniwa language belonging to the Maipurean (Arawak) language family. They live in the Amazon Region, in the border area of Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela and along the Rio Negro and its tributaries.
São Gabriel da Cachoeira is a municipality located on the northern shore of the Rio Negro River, in the region of Cabeça do Cachorro, Amazonas state, Brazil.
The Akuntsu are an indigenous people of Rondônia, Brazil. Their land is part of the Rio Omerê Indigenous Territory, a small indigenous territory which is also inhabited by a group of Kanoê. The Akuntsu were victims of a massacre perpetrated by Brazilian cattle ranchers in the 1980s and currently number just three individuals. It is unlikely that the Akuntsu language or culture will survive after their deaths, leading several observers to describe them as victims of genocide.
The Rio Omerê Indigenous Territory is an indigenous territory for isolated indigenous peoples in Rondônia, Brazil. The territory consists of 26,000 hectares of forest on the Omerê River and is home to the Kanoê and Akuntsu tribes. Both tribes were the victims of severe massacres by cattle ranchers in the 1970s and 1980s. As of 2016, the Akuntsu number just four individuals and the Rio Omerê Kanoê five. The two tribes are separate peoples speaking mutually unintelligible languages, but are linked by marriage. Several loggers and cattle ranchers also remain in the territory despite attempts to eject them and continue to pose a threat to its indigenous inhabitants.
Terra Indigena Menkragnoti is an indigenous territory created in 1994 in the state of Pará and in Mato Grosso, Brazil. It is home to the Menkragnoti tribe, which belongs to the Kayapo nation. It has a total population of 626 people living in 4,914,254.82 hectares. The Terra Indigena is also home to an unknown number of isolated Mengra Mrari Indians. TI Menkragnoti is adjacent to Terra Indigena Kaiapo and TI Bau. It forms the most important nature conservancy unit in Para.
The Trumai are an indigenous people of Brazil. They currently reside within the Xingu Indigenous Park, in the state of Mato Grosso. They have a population of 258 in 2014. They were 97 in 2011 and 120 in 2006, up from a low of 26 in 1966.
The Kanoê are an indigenous people of southern Rondônia, Brazil, near the Bolivian border. There are two major groups of Kanoê: one residing in the region of the Guaporé River and another in the Rio Omerê Indigenous Territory. The latter consists of just five individuals following violent contact with white settlers in the last few decades. The Kanoê of the Guaporé River have also had a troubled history of interaction with colonists; significantly reduced in population, they are now largely assimilated into neighbouring indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.
The Kwazá are an indigenous people of Brazil. Most Kwazá live with the Aikanã and Latundê in the Tubarão-Latundê Indigenous Reserve in the province of Rondônia; however, some Kwazá live in the Terra Indígena Kwazá do Rio São Pedro. In 2008 their population was 40, up from 25 in 1998.
The Júma are an indigenous people of Brazil, who lived in the Terra Indígena Juma in the Amazonas, along the Mucuim River, a tributary of Rio Açuã.
The Yudjá or Juruna are an Indigenous people of Brazil. They were formerly the major tribe along the Xingu River, but are now divided into two groups, a westernized northern group near Altamira, Para near the big bend of the Xingu and a more conservative group in the Xingu Indigenous Park at the headwaters of the Xingu in Mato Grosso. The southern group lives in two villages located near the mouth of the Maritsauá-Mitau River. They fish and raise crops, such as manioc.
The Parintintin are an indigenous people who live in Brazil in the Madeira River basin. They refer to themselves as Cabahyba, Kagwahiva’nga, or Kagwahiva, which translates to "our people."
The Himarimã or Hi-Merimã are an indigenous people of Brazil. They are largely uncontacted by outside society, and live along the Pinhuã River, between the Juruá and Purus Rivers, in the state of Amazonas.
In Brazil, an indigenous territory or indigenous land is an area inhabited and exclusively possessed by indigenous people. Article 231 of the Brazilian Constitution recognises the inalienable right of indigenous peoples to lands they "traditionally occupy" and automatically confers them permanent possession of these lands. In practice, however, a multi-stage demarcation process is required for a TI to gain full protection, and this has often entailed protracted legal battles. Even after demarcation, TIs are frequently subject to illegal invasions by settlers and mining and logging companies.
The Huni Kuin are an indigenous people of Brazil and Peru. Their villages are located along the Purus and Curanja Rivers in Peru and the Tarauacá, Jordão, Breu, Muru, Envira, Humaitã, and Purus Rivers in Brazil.
The Zuruahã are an indigenous people of Brazil, living along the Purus River in the state of Amazonas.
The Tembé, also Timbé and Tenetehara, are an indigenous people of Brazil, living along the Maranhão and Gurupi Rivers, in the state of Amazonas and Pará. 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.
The Suruí are an indigenous people of Brazil who live in the state of Pará. They are a different people than the Suruí do Jiparaná.
The genocide of indigenous peoples in Brazil began with the Portuguese colonization of the Americas, when Pedro Álvares Cabral made landfall in what is now the country of Brazil in 1500. This started the process that led to the depopulation of the indigenous peoples in Brazil, because of disease and violent treatment by Portuguese settlers, and their gradual replacement with colonists from Europe and enslaved peoples from Africa. This process has been described as a genocide, and continues into the modern era with the ongoing destruction of indigenous peoples of the Amazonian region.
The Yanomami Indigenous Territory is an indigenous territory in the states of Amazonas and Roraima, Brazil. It overlaps with several federal or state conservation units. It is home to Yanomami and Ye'kuana people. There are ongoing conflicts with an overlapping national forest in which mining was permitted.
