The Emerillon (or Emerilon, Emerion, Mereo, Melejo, Mereyo, Teco) - now called Teko, using their own denomination - are a Tupi–Guarani-speaking people in French Guiana living on the banks of the Camopi and Tampok rivers. Their subsistence is based on horticulture, hunting and various fishing techniques. As of 2001 they numbered about 400 individuals.
History
The Emerillon constitute the only ethnic group of French Guianas now-living six ethnic groups that were present in French Guiana before colonization. More nomadic than the other ethnic groups of the area, the Emerillon resided on different rivers in French Guiana during the colonial period, notably on the Approuague and, more recently, they settled within the surroundings of the Maroni River and the Camopi River. Their villages, usually located at a distance from the rivers for protection from raids, were moved frequently due to soil exhaustion, warfare, and several customary reasons, like the death of an inhabitant. Internal warfare was common and the members of the tribe practiced cannibalism as a means of revenge and of recuperating their enemies' forces.
The Emerillons' first contact with the Europeans occurred in the 18th century, when the number of male warriors were estimated at 400 - meaning that the group in its entirety was estimated to number around 1200. They were harassed by the Galibi Indians who captured women and children and sold them as slaves in Surinam. By the 19th century internal and intertribal warfare had weakened the Emerillon to the point of being collective slaves to the Wayampi. This, along with the epidemics brought in by the gold prospectors, greatly reduced their numbers. By the late 1960s, when the prospectors left the area, the Emerillon were in a poor state of health. But due to general health improvements and various demographic strategies, they have since grown to the number of approximately 400.