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Ka'apor

Photo taken by Darcy Ribeiro in 1951 featuring Ka'apor people
Total population
approx. 800
Regions with significant populations
Brazil (Maranhão)
Languages
Ka'apor, Ka'apor Sign Language (entire community), some Portuguese
Religion
Shamanism, Ancestor worship

The Ka'apor are an indigenous people of Brazil. They live on a protected reserve in the state of Maranhão. They were the subject of a book by anthropologist Dr. William Balée in an exhaustive study of their ethnobotany lifeways and the historical ecology of the area they currently inhabit.

They live in a heavily deforested area of Pre-Amazonian forest, but have managed to protect the forest within their designated reserve.

There is a high degree of congenital deafness among the Ka'apor, and consequently most of the hearing community knows sign language. (See Ka'apor Sign Language.)

Their forest reserve is under attack from illegal loggers, and in September 2014 the tribe took matters into their own hands when they attacked a group of loggers, tying them up, humiliating them before destroying the logs that had been extracted from the forest and burning the logger's lorry, before eventually setting them free.

Notes

1. "Ka'apor - Indigenous Peoples in Brazil". pib.socioambiental.org. Instituto Socioambiental. Archived from the original on 2020-11-24.
2. "Ka'apor warriors in the Amazon confront illegal loggers".

References

• Balée, William 1994 Footprints of the Forest: Ka’apor Ethnobotany—the Historical Ecology of Plant Utilization by an Amazonian People. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Ka'apor warriors in the Amazon confront illegal loggers, The Telegraph

v t e Indigenous peoples of Brazil
Indigenous peoples of the North Region Acre Apurinã Asháninka Kaxinawá Kulina Machinere Yaminawá Amapá Aparai Kalina Karipuna Palikur Wayampi Amazonas Amahuaca Apurinã Banawá Baniwa Barasana Bora Cambeba Cubeo Dâw Hupda Jamamadi Juma Korubo Kulina Macuna Mawé Matis Matsés Munduruku Mura Parintintín Pirahã Pira-tapuya Siriano Tariana Tembé Tenharim Ticuna Tiriyó Tucano Turiwára Wai-wai Wayampi Wayana White Indians Witoto Yanomami Zuruahã Pará Amanayé Anambé Aparai Apiacá Arara (Pará) Araweté Atikum Karajá Kayapo Kỳikatêjê Munduruku Parkatêjê Parakanã Suruí (Pará) Tembé Tiriyó Turiwára Wai-wai Wayampi Wayana Zo'é Rondônia Aikanã Akuntsu Arara (Rondônia) Cinta Larga Gavião (Rondônia) Kanoê Karitiana Kwaza Paiter Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Wari’ Roraima Akawaio Macushi Patamona Pemon Wapishana Yanomami Ye'kuana Tocantins Apinajé Karajá Krahô Tapirapé Xambioá Xerente
Indigenous peoples of the Northeast Region Bahia Pataxó Ceará Kiriri Tabajara Tapeba Maranhão Awá-Guajá Canela Guajajara Ka'apor Krĩkatí Gavião-Pykobjê Paraíba Potiguara Pernambuco Xukuru
Indigenous peoples of the Central-West Region Goiás Avá-Canoeiro Karajá Mato Grosso Aimoré Apiacá Aweti Bakairi Bororo Chiquitano Cinta Larga Enawene Nawe Guató Ikpeng Kaiabi Kalapalo Kamayurá Karajá Kayapo Kuikuro Matipu Munduruku Nahukuá Nambikwara Paiter Panará Paresi Rikbaktsa Kĩsêdjê (Suyá) Tapayúna Tapirapé Terena Trumai Umutina Wauja Xavante Yawalapiti Yudjá Zoró Mato Grosso do Sul Chamacoco Guarani-Kaiowá Guató Kadiweu Mbayá Ofayé Terena
Indigenous peoples of the South and Southeast Regions Espírito Santo Tupiniquim Minas Gerais Aimoré Kaxixó Xakriabá Santa Catarina Xokleng São Paulo Aimoré Kaingang Terena Widespread Kaingang

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