Guarani Tribe
Description
After looking at multiple tribes/groups, there was one that seemed to interest me the most above all others. That group is the Guarani Indians. The Guarani Indians seemed to interest me the most because they settled in South America, and mainly Brazil, which is a place that I have always wanted to visit. The Guarani were one of the first peoples contacted after Europeans arrived in South America around 500 years ago.
In Brazil, there are today around 46,000 Guarani living in seven states, making them the country’s most numerous tribe. Many others live in neighboring Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. The Guarani people in Brazil are divided into three groups: Kaiowá, Ñandeva and M’byá, of which the largest is the Kaiowá which means “forest people.” They are a deeply spiritual people. Most communities have a prayer house, and a religious leader, whose authority is based on prestige rather than formal power. Guarani children work on the sugar cane fields which now cover much of their people’s ancestral lands in Mato Grosso do Sul state. The Guarani speak two different types of languages, which are widely spoken across traditional Guarani homelands; one of two official languages in Paraguayan, the other one being Spanish. The language was once looked down upon by the upper and middle classes, but it is now often regarded with pride and serves as a symbol of national distinctiveness (Hephaestus Books 102). The Paraguayan population learns Guarani both informally from social interaction and formally in public schools.
For as long as they can remember, the Guarani have been searching - searching for a place revealed to them by their ancestors where people live free from pain and suffering, which they call “the land without evil” (Vernon 216). Over hundreds of years, the Guarani have travelled vast distances in search of this land. One 16th century chronicler noted their “constant desire to seek new lands, in which they imagine they will find immortality and
After looking at multiple tribes/groups, there was one that seemed to interest me the most above all others. That group is the Guarani Indians. The Guarani Indians seemed to interest me the most because they settled in South America, and mainly Brazil, which is a place that I have always wanted to visit. The Guarani were one of the first peoples contacted after Europeans arrived in South America around 500 years ago.
In Brazil, there are today around 46,000 Guarani living in seven states, making them the country’s most numerous tribe. Many others live in neighboring Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. The Guarani people in Brazil are divided into three groups: Kaiowá, Ñandeva and M’byá, of which the largest is the Kaiowá which means “forest people.” They are a deeply spiritual people. Most communities have a prayer house, and a religious leader, whose authority is based on prestige rather than formal power. Guarani children work on the sugar cane fields which now cover much of their people’s ancestral lands in Mato Grosso do Sul state. The Guarani speak two different types of languages, which are widely spoken across traditional Guarani homelands; one of two official languages in Paraguayan, the other one being Spanish. The language was once looked down upon by the upper and middle classes, but it is now often regarded with pride and serves as a symbol of national distinctiveness (Hephaestus Books 102). The Paraguayan population learns Guarani both informally from social interaction and formally in public schools.
For as long as they can remember, the Guarani have been searching - searching for a place revealed to them by their ancestors where people live free from pain and suffering, which they call “the land without evil” (Vernon 216). Over hundreds of years, the Guarani have travelled vast distances in search of this land. One 16th century chronicler noted their “constant desire to seek new lands, in which they imagine they will find immortality and
Bibliography: 1. Vernon, . "Fighting Back." Guarani. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct 2012. http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/guarani/fightingback#main 2. Schwartz, . "The Guarani." Despair. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct 2012. http://www.sim.org/index.php/content/guarani 3. . "Cultural Survival." Indigenous People In Brazil. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct 2012. http://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications/csq/article/indigenous-peoples-brazil-the-guarani-a-case-un 4. Garcia, . "Guarding The Guarani." Science Serving People. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct 2012. http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Booklets/Ssp/guarani.html