Brief History of the Tribes of the Amazoncoop
As a visitor to Tataquara, you will learn the history of the tribes comprising the co-op. Five of the eight
tribes were contacted for the first time during the 1970's and '80's, when the Transamazon Highway
and other development projects started to be built in the region.
The Brazilian government used to promote the Amazon as "land with no people -- for people with no
land". It did not seem to regard Indians as "people". Their idea was to settle the Amazon with people
who would " develop" the jungle. Many of these new settlers received Indian lands in the Altamira
region from the Brazilian government.
The tribes of the Amazoncoop own almost 6 million hectares of pristine rainforest, an area larger than
Holland. This represents, however, only a fraction of their original territory.
As a whole, Brazilian society feels that the Indians have too much land. The Brazilian government
does not provide protection for the Indian Reserves and tribes are left on their own to defend their
forests against unscrupulous loggers and miners.
Invasions not only destroy the Indians' natural resources, but also pose a threat to their health and
culture. Most of the tribes within Amazoncoop have retained their traditional ways and are very
isolated from contact with the surrounding society.
Contact with the white man forced the tribes into the 20
th
century and exposed them to diseases they
had never known and for which they have no antibodies. Huge numbers of Indians perished from flu,
smallpox and other communicable diseases.
During your visit, you will be able to find out more about how the tribes of the Amazoncoop were
discovered, about the difficulties they have endured, and how their age-old cultures have survived
