Trumai

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Trumai (or Trumaí; former native name: ho kod ke^[1]) are an indigenous group in Brazil. They currently reside within the Xingu National Park, in the state of Matto Grosso. They have a population of 120 (2002), up from a low of 26 in 1966.

The Trumai are considered one of the last groups to have settled on the upper Xingu River, moving there in the 19th century from the region between the Xingu and Araguaia Rivers, as a result of attacks from another people.^[2] They currently live in four villages in the National Park, Terra Preta, Boa Esperança, Steinen and Terra Nova, situated halfway from the Leonardo Villas-Bôas Post and the Diauarum Indigenous Post, where some families also live.

The Trumai are agriculturists, growing primarily manioc, peppers, and beans. Most are Christian.^[3]

The Trumai language is not closely related to other languages, and it is sometimes considered a language isolate. Joseph Greenberg included it in the Equatorial phylum in his analysis of the continent's languages. It is severely endangered, as children are becoming native speakers of Aweti, Suyá, or Portuguese.

The Trumai are one of the ethnicities included in the standard cross-cultural sample.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

Robert F. Murphy and Buell Quain. "The Trumai Indians of Central Brazil." American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 58, No. 4 (Aug., 1956), p. 747
Anne Sutherland Louis. "Alliance or Descent: The Trumai Indians of Central Brazil." Man, New Series, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Mar., 1971), pp. 18-29