Tupi people
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língua geral, much later Portuguese | |
Religion | |
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Indigenous, later Christianity | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Guaraní tribes |
The Tupi people, a subdivision of the Tupi-Guarani linguistic families, were one of the largest groups of indigenous peoples in Brazil before its colonization. Scholars believe that while they first settled in the Amazon rainforest, from about 2,900 years ago the Tupi started to migrate southward and gradually occupied the Atlantic coast of Southeast Brazil.[1]
Many Tupi people today are merged with the Guaraní people, forming the Tupi–Guarani languages. Guarani languages are linguistically different from the Tupian languages.[2]
History
The Tupi people inhabited 3/4 of all of Brazil's coast when the
European colonization
Upon discovering the existence of the Tupi people, it was assumed by Portuguese settlers that they lacked any sort of religion, a belief that began the process of assimilating the Tupi to Christianity.[3] The settlers began erecting villages for the Tupi, known as aldeias, with the intention of more disciplined religious conversion and institutionalization of European customs.[4] Aside from being assimilated, the Tupi were found to be of use to the Portuguese, who required laborers for cultivating and shipping their exports. This use in harvesting resources led to their eventual enslavement and in turn, the spread of fatal European diseases on the plantations they worked at.[5] This combination of factors nearly led to their complete annihilation, with the exception of a few isolated communities. The remnants of these tribes are today confined to indigenous territories or acculturated to some degree into the dominant society.[6]
Cannibalism
According to primary source accounts by primarily European writers, the Tupi were divided into several tribes which would constantly engage in war with each other. In these wars the Tupi would normally try to capture their enemies to later kill them in cannibalistic rituals.[6] The warriors captured from other Tupi tribes were eaten as it was believed by them that this would lead to their strength being absorbed and digested; thus, in fear of absorbing weakness, they chose only to sacrifice warriors perceived to be strong and brave. For the Tupi warriors, even when prisoners, it was a great honor to die valiantly during battle or to display courage during the festivities leading to the sacrifice.[7] The Tupi have also been documented to eat the remains of dead relatives as a form of honoring them.[8]
The practice of cannibalism among the Tupi was made famous in Europe by Hans Staden, a German soldier, mariner, and mercenary, traveling to Brazil to seek a fortune, who was captured by the Tupi in 1552. In his account published in 1557, he tells that the Tupi carried him to their village where it was claimed he was to be devoured at the next festivity. There, he allegedly won the friendship of a powerful chief, whom he cured of a disease, and his life was spared.[9]
Cannibalistic rituals among Tupi and other tribes in Brazil decreased steadily after European contact and religious intervention. When Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish conquistador, arrived in Santa Catarina in 1541, for instance, he attempted to ban cannibalistic practices in the name of the King of Spain.[10]
Because our understanding of Tupi cannibalism relies mostly on primary source accounts of primarily European writers, the very existence of cannibalism has been disputed by some in academic circles. William Arens seeks to discredit Staden's and other writers' accounts of cannibalism in his book The Man-Eating Myth: Anthropology & Anthropophagy, where he claims that when concerning the Tupinambá, "rather than dealing with an instance of serial documentation of cannibalism, we are more likely confronting only one source of dubious testimony which has been incorporated almost verbatim into the written reports of others claiming to be eyewitnesses".[11]
Most Brazilian scholars, however, attest to the cultural centrality of cannibalism in Tupian culture. Anthropologist
Race-mixing and Cunhadismo
Many indigenous peoples were important for the formation of the Brazilian people, but the main group was the Tupi. When the Portuguese explorers arrived in Brazil in the 16th century, the Tupi were the first indigenous group to have contact with them. Soon, a process of mixing between Portuguese settlers and indigenous women started. The Portuguese colonists rarely brought women, making the native women the "breeding matrix of the Brazilian people".[6] When the first Europeans arrived, the phenomenon of "cunhadismo" (from Portuguese cunhado, "brother in law") began to spread by the colony. Cunhadismo was an old native tradition of incorporating strangers to their community. The Natives offered the Portuguese an Indigenous girl as wife. Once he agreed, he formed a bond of kinship with all the Natives of the tribe. Polygyny, a common practice among South American Indigenous people, was quickly adopted by European settlers. This way, a single European man could have dozens of indigenous wives (temericós).[6]
Cunhadismo was used as recruitment of labour. The Portuguese could have many temericós and thus a huge number of Indigenous relatives who were induced to work for him, especially to cut
Influence in Brazil
Although the Tupi population largely disappeared because of European
When these areas of large Tupi influence started to be integrated into the
The Tupinambá tribe is fictitiously portrayed in Nelson Pereira dos Santos' satirical 1971 film How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (Como Era Gostoso o Meu Francês). Its name is also adapted by science: Tupinambis is a genus of tegus, arguably the best-known lizards of Brazil.
The large offshore Tupi oil field discovered off the coast of Brazil in 2006 was named in honor of the Tupi people.
The
Legacy
The Tupi people had a great cultural influence on the countries they inhabited. Innumerable people, streets, neighborhoods, cities, rivers, animals, fruits, plants, football clubs, companies in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay are named in Guarani.[16][17][18][19]
Tupi-Guarani placenames in other countries:
The Tupi people were present in almost all of South America, excluding Chile.[20][21][22][23][24]
Venezuela
Cabure, Aracua Ara kua ("the hole of the Ara (bird)") , Cagua, Maracay Mbarakaja'y ("kitten"), Aragua, Taguay, Yaguaratal, Caigua, Carapita, Yaguaracual, Taguapire, Carupano, Yaguaraparo, Carupe, Irapa Yrapa ("all streams"), Tabay Táva'í ("small town"), Uracoa, Aragüita, Tucupita Tuku pytã ("red lobster"), Guarapo, Chaguaramas Jaguaráma ("land of jaguars"), Tuja, Cuyagua, Chivacoa, Urucure Urukure'a ("Burrowing owl"), Mucuragua, Cuara, Tucani Tukã'í ("small toucan"), Jacuque, Churuguara, Tacuato Taguato ("Falcon"), Aguay, Paraguaná Peninsula Paragua na ("crown-like or crown-shaped").
- (Venezuelan states with Tupi-origin names; Apure Apyre ("Extremity, tip, end or border"), Aragua Ara gua ("The macaws Ara (bird)"), La Guaira Guayraka ("Dolphin"), Yaracuy Jarara kúi ("falling jararaca"))
Guyana
Arakaka, Kariakay Karia'y kaysa ("barrier of the brave") Iguapa Yguapa ("all coves")
Suriname
Paramaribo Parama ývo ("down the sea"). (Referring to the Caribbean Sea, since although Suriname is part of the Caribbean, it is near the Amazon Delta, in the South Atlantic Ocean).
Colombia
Buriticá Mburiti ka ("from Mauritia flexuosa"), Ituango, Apía, Ibagué yvakue ("fallen fruit or fruit peel"), Acuata, Arauca, Tibacuy, Mocoa, El Jagua, Iguambi, Itagüí ("from the rocks"), Yacare, Teranguara, Chachagüí, Puente Aranda, Catambuco, Aguayo
Panama
Ipetí ypetĩ ("duck's beak")
Nicaragua
El Aguay Aguai ("fruit tree")
Ecuador
Urcuqui, Timbuyacu, Ambuquí, Timbiré
Peru
Aguaytía Aguai'ty ("plantation of aguai"), Curiyaca, Imambari
Bolivia
Yacuiba, Paraimiri, Itaimbeguasu, Tatarenda, Saipurú, Capirenda, Itay, Ibamiragera, Carandaytí, Ipaguasú, Abapó, Timboy, Caraparí, Urubichá, Kuruguakua, Guanay, Yaguarú and Rogagua.
Uruguay
Tacuarembó, Pa'i Sandu, Chapicuy ("worn out"), Sarandí del Yí Sarãndy del Y ("bushes of the Yí"), Balneario Iporá ("beautiful watering place"), El Ombú, Yacuy (Salto), Sarandí del Arapey Sarãndy del Árape'y ("bushes of the daily tasks river"), Sarandí Grande, Ituzaingó and Aiguá
Notable Tupi people
- Catarina Paraguaçu, 1528—1586
- Niterói, Brazil
- Cunhambebe
See also
References
- ^ "Saída dos tupi-guaranis da Amazônia pode ter ocorrido há 2.900 anos". Archived from the original on 2011-10-07.
- ISBN 9781138089068.
- ISBN 978-1-4529-3685-7.
- ISBN 978-90-04-39485-8.
- ISBN 978-1-4381-6344-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Darcy Ribeiro – O Povo Brasileiro, Vol. 07, 1997 (1997), pp. 28 to 33; 72 to 75 and 95 to 101."
- ^ "Um alemão na Terra dos Canibais - Revista de História".
- ^ Agnolin, Adone. O apetite da antropologia. São Paulo, Associação Editorial Humanitas, 2005. p. 285.
- ^ Staden, Hans. Duas viagens ao Brasil: primeiros registros sobre o Brasil. Porto Alegre: L&PM, 2011, p. 51-52
- ^ "Museu de Arte e Origens".
- ISBN 0-19-502793-0)
- .
- ^ Nilson, Moraes (24 October 2012). "O canibal partido ao meio: Perspectivas de sacrifício, canibalismo e antropofagia na literatura tupinológica".
- ^ "Nomes". Archived from the original on 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ISBN 978-85-85426-42-2.
- ^ "Guarani Words in Modern Places: Ibera, Iguazu & Beyond". sayhueque.com.ar. Sayhueque Travelling. 2017-11-01. Retrieved 2017-11-01.
- ^ "Lenguas indígenas: rico legado cultural [Indigenous languages: rich cultural legacy]". dw.com (in Spanish). Deutsche Welle (DW). 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
- ^ "Palavras indígenas nomeiam a maior parte das plantas e animais do Brasil [Indigenous words name most of the plants and animals in Brazil]". ebc.com.br (in Portuguese). Empresa Brasil de Comunicação [Brazilian Communication Company]. 2015-10-29. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
- ^ "Nomes indígenas: Conheça os significados dessas palavras [Indigenous names: Know the meaning of these words]". terra.com.br (in Portuguese). Terra Brasil. 2020-11-11. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
- ^ "La gran Nación Guaraní, a la que la Conquista de América no derrotó pues persiste su cultura, es recordada en una calle capitalina [The great Guarani Nation, which the Conquest of America did not defeat, so persists its culture, is remembered in a capital street]". asuncion.gov.py (in Spanish). Municipalidad de Asunción (Asunción City Council). 2022-10-20. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
- ^ "Ministerio de Turismo de la Provincia de Misiones (Argentina) - Historia [Ministry of Tourism of the Province of Misiones (Argentina) - History]". misiones.tur.ar (in Spanish). Ministerio de Turismo de la Provincia de Misiones (Argentina) [Ministry of Tourism of the Province of Misiones (Argentina)]. 2023-01-01. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
- ^ "Lenguas y pueblos tupí-guaraníes en las fuentes de los siglos xvi y xvii" (in Spanish). OpenEditionJournals. 2021-11-20. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
- ^ "The presence of Guaraní groups in the current Uruguayan territory". sciencedirect.com. .Science Direct. 2020-09-13. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
- ^ "Seeking the origin of indigenous languages in South America". uni-tuebingen.de. University of Tübingen - Germany. 2023-06-15. Retrieved 2023-06-15.