Trumai

The Trumai (or Trumaí; native name: Ho kod ke)[3] 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.[1] They were 97 in 2011 and 120 in 2006,[2] up from a low of 26 in 1966.

For the language, see Trumai language.
Trumai
Total population
258 (2014)[1]
Regions with significant populations
 Brazil ( Mato Grosso)
Languages
Trumai[2]
Religion
Traditional tribal religion

Background

The Trumai are one of the last groups to have settled on the upper Xingu River, moving there in the 19th century[1] from the region between the Xingu and Araguaia Rivers, as a result of attacks from another people.[4] They currently live in four villages in the Xingu Indigenous 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 one of the ethnicities included in the standard cross-cultural sample.

They are considered the ones who introduced the jawari ritual ("hopep" in the Trumai language), that is, along with the kwarup, one of the most important inter-tribal festivals in the Upper Xingu cultural complex.[5]

Subsistence

The Trumai are farmers, growing primarily manioc, peppers, and beans.[2]

Language

The Trumai language is not closely related to other languages, and it is considered a language isolate.[2] It is severely endangered, as children are becoming native speakers of Awetï, Suyá, or Portuguese.

Notes
  1. "Trumai: Introduction." Povos Indígenas no Brasil. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  2. "Trumai." Ethnologue. Retrieved 24 Feb 2012.
  3. "Trumai: Name."Povos Indígenas no Brasil. Retrieved 24 Feb 2012.
  4. Socioambiental history page
  5. Almanaque Socioambiental Parque Indígena do Xingu 50 anos (PDF) (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental. 2011. ISBN 978-85-85994-84-6.

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
  • Quain, Buell; Murphy, Robert F. (1955). The Trumai Indians of Central Brazil. Locust Valley, N.Y.: J. J. Augustin
  • Anne Sutherland Louis. "Alliance or Descent: The Trumai Indians of Central Brazil." Man, New Series, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Mar., 1971), pp. 18–29
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