Total population |
---|
approx. 800 |
Regions with significant populations |
Brazil (Maranhão) |
Languages |
Ka'apor, Ka'apor Sign Language (entire community), some Portuguese |
Religion |
The Ka'apor are a distinct ethnic group of indigenous Brazilians living on a protected reserve in the state of Maranhão. They were the subject of a book by anthropologist Dr. William Balée in an exhaustive study of their ethnobotany lifeways and the historical ecology of the area they currently inhabit.
They live in a heavily deforested area of Pre-Amazonian forest, but have managed to protect the forest within their designated reserve up until now.[1]
There is a high degree of congenital deafness among the Ka'apor, and consequently most of the hearing community knows sign language. (See Ka'apor Sign Language.)