The Parintintin are an indigenous people who live in
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 ...
in the
Madeira River
The Madeira River ( ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is the biggest tributary of ...
basin. They refer to themselves as Cabahyba, Kagwahiva’nga, or Kagwahiva, which translates to "our people."
As of 2010, the Parintintin have a population of around 418
[ and live in three villages on two different indigenous territories (TIs):
*TI Ipixuna , and
*TI Nove de Janeiro .
]
Language and culture
The Parintintin language
Kawahíva (Kawahíb, Kagwahib) is a Tupi–Guarani dialect cluster of Brazil. The major variety is Tenharim.
The Tenharim (self-designation, Pyri 'near, together'), Parintintín, Jiahúi, Amondawa, Karipúna (not to be confused with neither the ...
is a dialect of the Tenharim language, which belongs to the Tupi-Guarani language family. It is written in the Latin script
The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...
.[ The Parintintin tribe is known for their unique way of ]sex
Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...
.
Parintintin people are argicultalists, fishermen, and gatherers.[ Their social structure is based on two moieties that are ]exogamous
Exogamy is the social norm of mating or marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which tw ...
and named for different types of birds. They are a patrilineal
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
society.[
While they refer themselves as Kagwahib, which translates to "our people", the name Parintintín comes from the language of the ]Munduruku
The Munduruku, also known as Mundurucu or Wuy Jugu, are an indigenous people of Brazil living in the Amazon River basin. Some Munduruku communities are part of the Coatá-Laranjal Indigenous Land. They had an estimated population in 2014 of 13 ...
, allies of the Brazilians for much of the 19th century, meaning "enemy".
History
Following contact with Brazilians in 1946, a population of 4,000 at the time was eventually reduced to 120 after Brazil's second rubber boom
The Amazon rubber cycle or boom (, ; , ) was an important part of the socioeconomic history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related to the commercialization of rubber and the genocide of indigenous peoples.
Cente ...
and the construction of the Trans-Amazon highway in 1970. Further colonization of the Amazon basin led to the spread of diseases that the Parintintin were not prepared for.
Current issues
The Parintintin currently face possible downstream impacts from th
Madeira Hydroelectric Complex
See also
* List of indigenous peoples in Brazil
Notes
External links
Instituto Socioambiental
(Portuguese)
* Parintintin (Portuguese)
Flickr set of TI Nove de Janeiro
International Rivers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parintintin
Indigenous peoples in Brazil
Indigenous peoples of the Amazon