The Nambikwara (also called Nambikuára) is an indigenous people of Brazil, living in the Amazon. Currently about 1,200 Nambikwara live in indigenous territories in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso along the Guaporé and Juruena rivers. Their villages are accessible from the Pan-American highway.
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Name
The Nambikwara are also known as the Alaketesu, Anunsu, Nambikwara, or Nambiquara people.
Language
The Nambikwara speak the Southern Nambikuára language, which is a Nambiquaran language. A dictionary and grammar have been written for the language, which is written in the Latin script.
History
The Nambikwara were first contacted in 1770 but did not experience prolonged contact with Europeans until the early 20th century, when Brazilian army official Marechal Cândido Rondon passed through Nambikwara territory to extend the telegraph lines. He estimated that there were around 10,000 Nambikwara. Shortly after contact with European Brazilians epidemics of measles and smallpox decimated the population to only 500 around 1930.
The culture of the Nambikwara was the subject of studies by French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, which were later analyzed by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his work Of Grammatology.
Bands and subgroups
The Nambikuara Nation is composed of many smaller bands which each have their own name.