 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 13,755 (2014)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Brazil (Amazonas,Mato Grosso,Pará)[1] | |
| Languages | |
| Munduruku,Portuguese[2] |
TheMunduruku, also known asMundurucu orWuy Jugu, are anindigenous people of Brazil living in theAmazon River basin. Some Munduruku communities are part of theCoatá-Laranjal Indigenous Land.[2] They had an estimated population in 2014 of 13,755.[1]
Traditionally the Munduruku's territory, called Mundurukânia in the 19th century, was theTapajós river valley.[1] In 1788, they completely defeated their ancient enemies theMuras. After 1803 they lived at peace with theBrazilians.[3]
The Munduruku live in southwest of the state of Pará along the Tapajós river and its tributaries in the municipalities ofSantarém,Itaituba andJacareacanga, in the east of the state ofAmazonas along theCanumã River in the municipality ofNova Olinda and the municipality ofBorba, and in the north of the state ofMato Grosso in thePeixe River region in the municipality ofJuara. They usually inhabit forest regions on the margins of navigable rivers, and their traditional villages are in "Tapajós fields", patches of savannah within the Amazon rainforest.The largest numbers live in theMunduruku Indigenous Territory, with most of the villages along theCururu River, a tributary of the Tapajós.[4]
Today the Munduruku face threats to their homelands from the dams of theTapajós hydroelectric complex, illegal gold-panning, and a new waterway construction on the Tapajós River.[1]The reservoir of the proposedChacorão Dam on the Tapajós river would flood 18,700 hectares (46,000 acres) of the Munduruku Indigenous Territory.[5]The reservoir of the proposedSão Luiz do Tapajós Dam on the Tapajós would flood about 7% of theSawré Muybu Indigenous Territory.[6]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Mundurukú Headdress: a glimpse of life in the Amazon rainforest,Smarthistory atKhan Academy |
Also known as theMundurucu,Maytapu, andCara Preta, the Munduruku call themselvesWuy Jugu.Oral history says the name "Muduruku" comes from their enemies theParintintin people and means "red ants," based on the historical Munduruku tactic of attacking en masse.[2]
The Munduruku have a distinctive residence pattern. Rather than a pattern based on conjugal or affinal bonds, in the Munduruku villages, all males over the age of thirteen live in one household, and all of the females live with all of the males under thirteen in another.[citation needed]
TheMunduruku language is part of theTupi language family.[2]
According to Gomes (2006), "widely known byMundurukú, the historically famous 'head cutters' call themselveswuyjuyu 'people.' Considered in the past 'one of the most warlike, powerful and intelligent tribes of Brazil (...)' (Hartt, 1884), this Brazilian indigenous community seeks today to 'cut off the head 'of enemies through dialogue, not only territorial disputes are part of this 'war', but also disputes over health, linguistic, social and cultural education and self-preservation."[7]
They are also notable for their linguistic separation of "us" (their tribe) from "them" (everyone else), thepariwat. Whereas they refer to themselves as thewuujuyû, or "our people", everyone else is spoken of as the equivalent of "prey".[citation needed]
Unlike thePirahã, the Munduruku have anumeracy system, albeit limited (similar to that found in someAboriginal Australian cultures).Pierre Pica was instrumental (in a work done in collaboration withStanislas Dehaene andElizabeth Spelke) in revealing thepsychophysics andlinguistic properties of the Munduruku counting system to theWestern world. The Munduruku have number words up to onlyfive, although each word is not as definite in meaning as number words inEnglish, and the lexical limitation is no obstacle to their making calculations involving larger numbers.[8] Furthermore, the Munduruku use logarithmic mapping of numbers to assess scales, a point cited as possible evidence for the notion that this kind of numbering is innate, whereas the linear mode has to be acquired by study.[9][10]
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