The indigenous peoples of Brazil (povos indígenas in Portuguese) comprise a large number of distict ethnic groups who inhabited the country's present territory prior its discovery by Europeans around 1500. Like Christopher Columbus, who thought he had reached the East Indies, the first Portuguese explorers called them índios (Indians), a name that is still used today in Brazil. The history of Brazil begins with the arrival of the first Native Americans, over 8,000 years ago, into the present territory of that nation. ... The Age of Exploration The discovery of Brazil was preceded by a series of treaties between the kings of Spain and Portugal, the last of them is the Treaty of Tordesilhas, signed in 1494, creating the Tordesilhas Meridian, that divided the world between that two kingdoms. ... After its independence from the Portuguese on September 7, 1822, Brazil became a monarchy, the Brazilian Empire, which lasted until the establishment of the Republican government on November 15, 1889. ... The Constitutionalist Revolution From 1889 to 1930, the government was a constitutional democracy, with the presidency alternating between the dominant states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. ... Depression, coffee oligarchs, and the Revolution of 1930 The Great Depression The tenente rebellion (See History of Brazil (1889-1930)) did not mark the revolutionary breakthrough of Brazils bourgeois social reformers. ... Second Vargas presidency Vargas returned to politics in 1950, and through the free and secret ballot he was re-elected President of the Republic. ... The military held power in brazil from 1964 until March 1985 mainly because of political struggles within the new regime. ... After the military coup, Brazil went into a troubled process of redemocratization. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of article quality. ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... // Events Europes population was ~60 million. ... Christopher Columbus For information about the director, see the article on Chris Columbus. ... The Indies, on the display globe of the Field Museum, Chicago The Indies or East Indies (or East India) is a term used to describe lands of South and South-East Asia, occupying all of the former British India, the present Indian Union, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and...

The Brazilian indigenous peoples were mostly semi-nomadic tribes who subsisted on hunting, fishing, gathering, and migrant agriculture. Many of the groups which existed in 1500 died out as a consequence of the European settlement, and many were assimilated into the Brazilian population. The indigenous population has declined from a pre-Columbian high of an estimated 5–6 million to just 100,000 in 1950. Only a few tribes still survive in their original culture in remote areas of the Amazon Rainforest. However, changes in government policies over the past 50 years have managed to afford some protection to the remaining native Brazilians, and the population has risen again to some 300,000 (1997), grouped into some 200 tribes. Hunting is, in its most general sense, the pursuit of a target. ... Fishing from a Pier Fishing is a term applied to any activity which aims to capture fish or shellfish for subsistence, scientific, commercial or recreational purposes. ... 1950 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... A river in the Amazon rainforest The Amazon is a rainforest in South America. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Karajá Indians

Brazilian Indians made substantial and pervasive contributions to the country's material and cultural development—such as the domestication of cassava, which is still a major staple food in rural areas of the country. Picture of a couple of modern Karajá Indians in their traditional attire. ... Picture of a couple of modern Karajá Indians in their traditional attire. ... Binomial name Manihot esculenta Crantz Cassava or manioc (Manihot esculenta; also yuca in Spanish, and mandioca, aipim, or macaxera in Portuguese) is a woody perennial shrub of the spurge family, that is extensively cultivated as an annual crop for its edible starchy tuberous root. ...

Origins

Korubo indians

The origins of the first Brazilians are still a matter of dispute among archaeologists. The traditional view, which traces them to Siberian migration to America at the end of the last ice age, has been increasingly challenged by South American archaeologists. Image File history File links Newly discovered Korubo indians. ... Image File history File links Newly discovered Korubo indians. ... Importance and applicability Archaeology is the study of human nature and attempts to illuminate the question of what it means to be human. ... Siberia Siberia (Russian: Сиби́рь, common English transliterations: Sibir, Sibir; possibly from the Mongolian for the calm land) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. ... The Wisconsin (in North America), Weichsel (in Scandinavia), Devensian (in the British Isles) or Würm glaciation (in the Alps) is the most recent period of the Ice Age, and ended some 10,000 Before Present (BP). ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

The Siberian Ice Age hypothesis

Anthropological and genetic evidence indicates that most Native American peoples descended from the "first wave" of migrant peoples from north Asia (Siberia) who entered America across the Bering Strait in at least three separate waves. In Brazil, particularly, most native tribes who were living in the land by 1500 are thought to be descended from the first wave of migrants, who are believed to have crossed the "land bridge" across the Bering Strait at the end of the last Ice Age around 9000 BC. Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος = human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ... Genetics (from the Greek genno γεννώ= give birth) is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. ... North Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Siberia Siberia (Russian: Сиби́рь, common English transliterations: Sibir, Sibir; possibly from the Mongolian for the calm land) is a vast region of Russia and northern Kazakhstan constituting almost all of northern Asia. ... Satellite photo of the Bering Strait The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, the eastmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, the westernmost point of the American continent, about 85 km in width, with a depth of 30–50 m. ... The Bering land bridge, also known as Beringia, was a land bridge roughly 1600 km (1000 miles) north to south at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times during the ice ages. ... Satellite photo of the Bering Strait The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, the eastmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, the westernmost point of the American continent, about 85 km in width, with a depth of 30–50 m. ...

A migrant wave around 9000 BC would have reached Brazil around 6000 BC, probably entering the Amazon River basin from the Northwest. (The second and third migratory waves from Siberia, which are thought to have generated the Athabaskan and Eskimo peoples, apparently did not reach farther than the southern United States and Canada, respectively.) Length 6,296 km Elevation of the source 5,597 m Average discharge 219,000 m³/s Area watershed 6,915,000 km² Origin Nevado Mismi Mouth Atlantic Ocean Basin countries Brazil (62. ... Athabaskan or Athabascan (also Athapascan or Athapaskan) is the name of a large group of distantly related Native American peoples, also known as the Athabasca Indians or Athapaskes, located in two main Southern and Northern groups in western North America, and of their language family. ... Eskimo is a term used for a group of people who inhabit the circumpolar region (excluding circumpolar Scandinavia and all but the easternmost portions of Russia). ... The Southern United States or the South, also known colloquially as Dixie, constitute a distinctive region covering a large portion of the United States, with its own unique heritage, historical perspective, customs, musical styles, and cuisine. ...

The American Aborigines hypothesis

Huaorani indians

The traditional view above has recently been challenged by findings of human remains in South America, which are claimed to be too old to fit this scenario—perhaps even 20,000 years old. Some recent finds (notably the Luzia skeleton in Lagoa Santa) are claimed to be morphologically distinct from the Asian genotype and are more similar to African and Australian Aborigines. These American Aborigines would have been later displaced or absorbed by the Siberian immigrants. The distinctive natives of Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of the American continent, may have been the last remains of that aboriginal populations. Image File history File links Amazon Rainforest indians in isolation. ... Image File history File links Amazon Rainforest indians in isolation. ... The genotype is the specific genetic makeup (the specific genome) of an individual, usually in the form of DNA. It codes for the phenotype of that individual. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. ... Australian Aborigines are the main indigenous people of Australia. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... Tierra del Fuego (Spanish: land of Fire) is an archipelago at the southernmost tip of South America. ...

These early immigrants would have either crossed the ocean on boat, or traveled North along the Asian coast and entered America through the Bering Strait area, well before the Siberian waves. This theory is still resisted by many scientists chiefly because of the apparent difficulty of the trip.

Archaeological remains

Virtually all the surviving archaeological evidence about the pre-history of Brazil dates from the period after the Asian migratory waves. Brazilian Indians, unlike those in Mesoamerica and the western Andes, did not keep written records or erect stone monuments, and the humid climate and acidic soil have destroyed almost all traces of their material culture, including wood and bones. Therefore, what is known about Brazilian history before 1500 is what is inferred from small-scale archaeological evidence, such as pottery and stone arrowheads. Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the European discovery of the New World by Columbus. ... Note that the geology in this article currently reflects views from the first decade of the 20th century. ... A news/talk radio station on the frequency of 1300 AM in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ... Grays illustration of a human femur, a typically recognized bone. ... A man shapes pottery as it turns on a wheel. ... Arrowhead can refer to: the point of an arrow; the Arrowhead region of northeastern Minnesota; a place name in southern California, derived from an arrowhead-shaped geologic formation in the San Bernardino Mountains; sports venues such as Arrowhead Pond and Arrowhead Stadium; HMCS Arrowhead, a World War II Flower class...

The most conspicuous remains of pre-discovery societies are very large mounds of discarded shellfish (sambaquís) found in some coastal sites which were continuously inhabited for over 5,000 years; and the substantial "black earth" (terra preta) deposits in several places along the Amazon, which are believed to be ancient garbage dumps. Recent excavations of such deposits in the middle and upper course of the Amazon have uncovered remains of some very large settlements, containing tens of thousands of homes, indicating a complex social and economical structure. Shellfish is a term used to describe molluscs and crustaceans used as food. ... Terra preta (dark soil), or Terra preta de índio, refers to extensions of very dark soils found in the Amazon Basin. ...

Economy and culture

The first Brazilians appear to have subsisted from hunting, fishing, and gathering. They used bone and chipped stone tools and weapons, similar to those found throughout the Americas at comparable dates. Eventually those were replaced by polished stone tools. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Ceramics

Pottery was introduced at a very early date; indeed the earliest ceramic finds in the Americas are from the Amazon region, which may indicate a local invention and cultural diffusion from South to North, opposite to the generally expected trend. Brazilain potters used sophisticated materials (such as microscopic silica spikes obtained from certain freshwater sponges) to make fine utilitarian and ceremonial vessels, with intricate carved, molded, and painted decoration. However they did not know the potter's wheel or the vitreous glazes. Image File history File links Amazon indians during a festival. ... Image File history File links Amazon indians during a festival. ... A man shapes pottery as it turns on a wheel. ...

The evolution of pottery styles in various locations indicates a complex pattern of internal migrations and replacement. In particular, is seems that the Tupi-Guarani Indians — which by 1500 were a major ethnic family East of the Andes — originated as a small tribe in the Amazon region, and migrated to their historic range — from Central Brazil to Paraguay — sometime in the first millennium AD. This article is in need of attention. ... Note that the geology in this article currently reflects views from the first decade of the 20th century. ...

Agriculture

At some point, Brazilian Indians developed or learned the technique of agriculture. Some crops (like maize) were imported from the more advanced civilizations West of the Andes, while cassava, which became the main staple for many populations, appears to have been developed locally. Species Zea diploperennis Zea luxurians Zea nicaraguensis Zea perennis References ITIS 42268 2002-09-22 Sorting Zea names This article is about the staple food. ... Binomial name Manihot esculenta Crantz Cassava or manioc (Manihot esculenta; also yuca in Spanish, and mandioca, aipim, or macaxera in Portuguese) is a woody perennial shrub of the spurge family, that is extensively cultivated as an annual crop for its edible starchy tuberous root. ...

Brazilian Indians had no domesticated animals that could be used for transportation or plowing, so agriculture was carried out entirely by hand power. That involved cutting down the jungle to create a clearing, burning the dead wood in place to free its mineral nutrients, planting the crops and harvesting. Usually two or three crops were planted together. Fields would be abandoned and rebuilt frequently.

Brazilian Indians manufactured an alcoholic beverage, cauim, from fermented maize or cassava — a custom which they probably imported from beyond the Andes, together with agriculture. Cauim is a traditional alcoholic beverage of the Native American populations of Brazil, since pre-Columbian times. ...

The Indians by the time of discovery

Major ethnic groups

• Aimoré (Botocudo)
• Apinajé
• Asheninka
• Awá
• Baniwa
• Caingang
• Caripuna
• Fulni-o
• Guajajara
• Guarani
• Huaorani
• Kamayura
• Karajá
• Katuquina
• Kaxinawa
• Kayapo
• Krahó
• Macuxi
• Munduruku
• Ofayé
• Pataxó
• Potiguara
• Tapuia
• Tamoio
• Terena
• Ticuna
• Tupininquim
• Waiapi
• Waorani
• Xacriaba
• Xavante
• Xerente
• Xucuru
• Yanomami
• Yawanawa
• Zuruaha

Botocudo (from Portuguese for botoque, a plug, in allusion, to the wooden disks or plugs worn in their lips and ears), is the foreign name for a tribe of South American Indians of eastern Brazil, also known as the Aimorés or Aimborés. ... The Awá are an endangered indigenous group of people living in the eastern Amazon forests of Brazil. ... There are places that have the name Guarani in Brazil, see Guarani, Brazil The Guarani are primarily a tribal people indigenous to Paraguay and some regions of Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia. ... The Huaorani, also known as Waorani, Waodani, or Auca (Quechua for savage), are an indigenous tribe of the Ecuadorian Oriente (in the Amazon region). ... // Introduction The kamayura live in the Upper Xingu region along with Kiabi, Yudja and Suya tribes. ... The Ofayé (also spelled as Opaié or Ofayé) are an indigenous people of Central Brazil. ... Ticuna is a language spoken by approximately 21,000 people in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia. ... The Waorani (also spelled Huaorani or Waodani, and called Wao for short) are an indigenous people of Ecuador, living between the right bank of the Napo River and the left bank of the Curaray River. ... This article needs cleanup. ... The Xucuru are an indigenous people with a population of approximately 8,500, living in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. ... The Yanomami (also spelled Yanomamö and sometimes written with an ogonek under the first a as Yąnomamö) are an indigenous people of Brazil and Venezuela. ...

See also

• Native American
• Archaeology of the Americas
• Bering Land Bridge