The Kaingang people are an
Indigenous Brazilian ethnic group
An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
spread out over the three southern
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
ian states of
Paraná,
Santa Catarina and
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...
and the southeastern state of
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
. Their population was around 51,000 in 2022.
Names
Kaingang is spelled caingangue in
Portuguese, and kanhgág in the
Kaingang language
The Kaingang language (also spelled Kaingáng) is a Southern Jê languages, Southern Jê language spoken by the Kaingang people of southern Brazil. The Kaingang nation has about 30,000 people, and about 60–65% speak the language. Most also spea ...
. It is also sometimes rendered as Aaingang
or Caingang.
The Kaingang have sometimes been grouped with the Aweikoma (
Xokleng), although they are now considered separate groups.
Culture and language
The Kaingang people were the original first inhabitants of the province of Misiones in Argentina. Their language and culture is quite distinct from the neighboring
Guaraní.
It has been stated that the Kaingang rarely live long in one place causing them to move a lot, but some sources, such as Juracilda Veiga
and ethnographic registers (José Francisco Tomás do Nascimento 1886, Telêmaco Borba 1908 etc.), indicate that Kaingang groups have a crucial relation with the land where they were born and their ancestors were buried.
The
Kaingang language
The Kaingang language (also spelled Kaingáng) is a Southern Jê languages, Southern Jê language spoken by the Kaingang people of southern Brazil. The Kaingang nation has about 30,000 people, and about 60–65% speak the language. Most also spea ...
is a member of the
Jê family.
Copel agreement
In November 2006
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
's state-owned power company,
Copel, agreed to compensate the group 6.5 million dollars for operating a
small hydro plant in the
Apucaraninha Reservation. The company finally gave in to a settlement after the natives carried two barrels full of fuel into the plant's machine room and threatened to destroy the plant.
This is part of a larger trend of indigenous groups challenging energy projects according to
Platts.
See also
*
Indigenous people of Brazil
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
Footnotes
Murdock, 1949.
Citations
References
*
*
*
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
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