Indigenous Peoples of Brazil

The Guarani: extreme poverty, life expectancy of just 40 years. The current Brazilian government of Jair Bolsonaro is aggravating these conditions.
It appears that the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro,  does not care about native peoples. 
Among +100 indigenous nations in Brazil, the Guarani, closely related to the Tupi, represent one of the most important Brazilian First Nations both historically and demographically. 
Before the European colonization, the total population of Guaraní communities amounted to several million (perhaps of the order of 10 M), extending from the jungles of northern Mato Grosso to the Paraná River delta. 
Its existence was based on fishing and the application of agricultural logging and burning practices in the jungle environments where they lived. The main crops were corn, cassava, boñato, peanuts, beans and squash. They never constituted urban societies or centralized states. The communities generally maintained their autonomy, although alliances thet could be established or broken during  intercine wars.
The situation has changed considerably 500 years after the arrival of the Brazilian territory by Portuguese invaders. The demographic weight of the Guarani ethnic groups has decreased exponentially. Although it is still one of the most numerous native nations of the Brazilian subcontinent, their numbers and land control are at the most 1/100th of what they were in ancient times.
There are currently several Guarani sub-groups that inhabit the territory of Brazil, extending some of them into some neighboring countries. 
The main ones are the Kaiowá or Pai Tavytera with 30,000 members, the M’bya Guaraní with 20.000 and the Ava Chiripa with 10,000. +
The Kaiowá inhabit southern Mato Grosso and northeastern Paraguay, the M’bya Guaraní, who have adopted migratory behavior, extend through southern Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and occasionally Uruguay. 
The Ava chiripá are found mostly in eastern Paraguay and much less in southwestern Brazilian territory.
In Brazil, both the Kaiowá and the M'bya have lost virtually all of their traditional lands, maintaining the Kaiowá some small reserves in Mato Grosso do Sur and largely inhabiting the slums of some cities in this state, such as Dourados or Campo Grande. 
Kaiowá living in cities are extremely poor and teenagers have one of the highest suicide rates in Brazil and America.
The M’bya on the other hand survive on the banks of water courses and on the side of the roads selling handicrafts living in great poverty with a life expectancy that barely exceeds 40 years.
With the anti-indigenous policies of Bolsonaro's government, the Guaraní peoples have seen their scarce margins of life and subsistence options decrease, the Kaiowá will not be able to recover the traditional lands they claim and may even lose some of their current reserves in the face of the advancement of large corporations and large landowners.
With an intolerant government, the M’bya guaraní will find more difficulties in their migrations or to settle on public or private lands.
These native peoples require the greatest solidarity, with their vulnerable  position in the new political environment of the country. .

The Guaraní nation in the 21st century

D.Anton

The Guaraní people, closely related to the Tupi, were one of the most numerous in South America. The natural environment of the Guaraní is the jungle where they grow their crops (cassava, sweet potatoes, corn) and use the abundant rivers to fish. Because the soils of the jungle (ferrallitic) are of low fertility and can not stand many years of uninterrupted crops, the jungle-farming peoples such as the Guarani must change their villages with some frequency. This feature does not lend itself to the development of cities or political entities of the state type. For that reason the Guarani territories were constituted by hundreds of communities scattered in the tropical South American region interspersed with populations of different jungle ethnicities (such as the Arawak peoples).

During the conquest and colonization the Guarani were eliminated, enslaved, reduced in religious missions and in all cases displaced from their traditional territories. The Guarani who survived took refuge in the depths of the forests, for which reason they were called "guaraníes monteses", or in peripheral zones to the tropical jungles.

In the last decades the felling of forests for livestock or agricultural conversion forced many resistant communities to migrate in different directions.

In the 21st century (2019), several Guarani nations survive in South America with a total population of more than 300,000 people.

The main ones are the following.

Guarani Ñandeva or Ava Chiripa: they are generally located in eastern Paraguay and in the states of Paraná and São Paulo in Brazil. It is a town that has been partially integrated. In some villages they have suffered the onslaught of churches. First it was the catholic church, now they are the evangelical cults. These "preachers" have sought to reduce spirituality and traditional Guarani rites with partial success. In any case the ñanderekó (way of being Guaraní) still subsists. The ñandeva are approximately 25,000 of which about 13,000 are in Brazil and the rest in Paraguay

Pai Tavyterá or Guarani Kaiová: these are communities that survive in northeastern Paraguay and the state of Mato Grosso do sul in Brazil. They are villages that have been pushed and displaced by agriculture and grazing, being reduced to small reserves in areas of low productivity. In Mato Grosso, many Kaiova communities have had to travel to cities, such as Dourados, where they live with other indigenous communities (eg Terenas) in conditions of extreme poverty and discrimination. This situation has led to the suicide of many young Kaoivas. Its approximate total population is 50,000.

Mbya Guaraní: they are “Guarani monteses” who were forced to migrate from their traditional jungle territories. In addition to the destruction of their habitat the Mbyá had the existential religious incentive embodied in the search for the Yvy Mara He'y (which was translated as the "land without evil", but rather it is "the jungle without traces" or the " virgin jungle "). Due to this conception the Mbya communities migrated in many directions. Some settled on the banks of rivers, others on the side of the roads, and even in the suburbs of cities. There are Mbya communities in eastern Paraguay, in all the southern states of Brazil, in Argentina (in the province of Misiones) and some arrived in Uruguay in the south and Bolivia in the north. They are the Guaraní nation that has most firmly preserved the religious traditions, they develop their ceremonies, when they can cultivate their plots in the traditional way, build their temples, and resist the bureaucratic obligations of the states (such as obtaining identification documents, sending children to the schools of the states in which they live, to be vaccinated, etc.).  They are very distrustful people and rightly so. Its total population is approximately 30,000.

Chiriguanos or Ava Guaranís: they are Guarani who in the days before the conquest moved west facing the Inca expansionism settling in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains and adjacent plains. After the conquest and colonization suffered the Spanish encomiendas and later, the domain of the authorities of the Republic of Bolivia. The Ava Guaraní people rebelled against the Bolivian government at the end of the 19th century. The rebels were massacred in Kuruyuki and their buruvichá (leader), Apiaguaiqui Tumpa (or Tüpa), was captured, tortured and shot. It is estimated that more than 6,000 ava guaraní died in these battles. On January 28 of this year (2017) 125 years after the massacre, for the first time, the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, went to the ava communities to honor the martyr of the Chiriguana struggle with the cruel Bolivian Creole elites. Currently in the Ava Guaraní communities there are around 30,000 people.

Ache Guayakís: the Aché Guayakí or simply Aché (they do not accept the term guayaki) is made up of communities from the eastern region of Paraguay that have lived there since time immemorial. It is a village older than the Guarani. The Guarani settled in Paraguay and areas of influence about 2,000 years ago. The Atchei were already there a long time ago. They had their own language but gradually they became guaranized and developed their own syncretic dialect. They have been displaced from their traditional territories and live in a situation of discrimination and extreme poverty. They are located in Paraguay and their total population is about 2,000.

Guarayos (Guaranized Chanés): they are villages Chané (Arawak) of the foot of mount of the sierras of Santa Cruz. In times before the conquest, they were invaded by the Ava Guaraníes initiating a process of guaranization. With the policies of the new Bolivian government they have managed to develop elective and autonomous authorities. Its total population is approximately 15,000 and increasing. They live in the department of Santa Cruz, Chiquisaca and Tarija. In Argentina there are about 2,500 guarayos.

Izoceños (Guaranized Chane). They are also guaranized Chané peoples, but they were the ones who suffered least from the Ava Guarani influence. They inhabit the Izozog marshes, which are the most extensive wetlands in the region (600,000 hectares) in the Department of Santa Cruz in Bolivia.  They maintain a consolidated ethnic government in a territory with its ecological system practically intact, unchanged by commercial activities. The region is dominated by the Parapetí River, which dries completely to the height of the first isoceanic communities in the winter months. I oso oso, in Guarani, "the water that is dried up". At least 80% of those who live in the vicinity of the course of the river are native, fully integrated into the basic cycles of the ecosystem. They live by fishing -when the river has water, although they keep part of what was obtained well into the dry season-, subsistence hunting, gathering and forest resources. They also develop agriculture and livestock in a family and collective way. The political organization is based on the captaincies. The maximum authority is the "Tenta Ruvisa Guasu" (the one who takes care of or guides the community), whose charge is usually hereditary, its function is that of conciliator or mediator between the Izoceños and the public and private authorities; He does not decide, he executes the will of the people who, through assemblies, deliberate and make decisions. There is a Great Captain that represents all the communities of the Izozog - currently 17 along the Parapetí River -, it is assisted by the Captains of Alto and Bajo Izozog. They administer a sub-office and the Kaa Iya Park in the Bolivian Chaco. Although the Catholic Church has been active in the region since the 1960s, it has not been possible to eradicate the worldview and indigenous thought that today is closer to the Guaraní than to the Chané. Like the Guarayos, with the policies of the new Bolivian government the Izceños have managed to develop elective and autonomous authorities. Its population is estimated at 30,000 people.

The Guaraní- Kaiowa in Mato Grosso, Brazil

The Guaraní-Kaoiwa people are constituted by the survivors of the great Guaraní nation that inhabited the eastern half of the South American continent. The Kaiowa are located primarily in the state of Mato Grosso de Sul in Brazil. 
It is worth remembering that mato grosso is a Portuguese translation of the Guarani word caaguasú. Originally the Guaraní or Tupí-Guaraní population included the peoples of the East and Northeast territories and the oceanic facade of South America. There were several million pelple distributed in thousands of communities from the river Plate to the Amazon river..

The Hispano-Portuguese invasion and conquest dramatically decreased these numbers in a few years. 
Massacres, rapes, looting, land encroachments, religious reductions and, above all, enslavement, destroyed most of the communities, limiting their survival today to a few unproductive and isolated areas.
One of the main surviving Guarani nations is the Guaraní-Kaiowá (in Spanish, Guarani-Caiguá) numbering about 40,000. It is reduced to a few inadequate reserves in Mato Grosso de Sul and in some precarious settlements around some cities. The Guaraní-Kaiowá live in extreme poverty. They have a life expectancy of less than 40 years inferior to all countries of the world. They have a very high percentage of adolescent suicide that has been news worldwide several times.
They are struggling with little success to assert their rights. As is known, there are some rights for Brazilian "citizens" and another for "Indians"
I think it is worth calling attention to this tragedy that continues even today.

The historical struggles of the Guarani and their resilience have been developed in the book "Amerrique, Orphans del Paraiso" by Piriguazú Editions

The Tupi-Guarani Nations
D.Antón
About 3,000 years ago the Tupi-Guarani ethnic groups expanded across the tropical and subtropical forests of the east and southeast of the South American continent. The Spanish and Portuguese invaders called them "Guarani" in the southeastern regions  (current states of Sao Paulo, Parana, Santa Catarina and Mato Grosso do Sul, in Brazil, eastern Paraguay and the provinces of Misiones and Corrientes in Argentina, and  "Tupi" along the Atlantic coast of Brazil where they occupied discontinuously the coastal territory North to the mouth of the Amazon River.

While it is difficult to  accurately estimate the total Tupi-Guarani population, they were probably several millions, perhaps more than ten millions spread through about 5-6 million square kilometers.
Locally the tupi-guaraní societies were composed of many communities, some of which were very numerous (perhaps up to several tens of thousands).
The Tupinamba, who inhabited the Atlantic coastal areas, were described by the Portuguese invaders and their language served as a basis for the lingua franca of Brazil during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries .
Another important group were the Carios, who inhabited the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, the "Chiriguanos" (or "Ava Guarani ') on the eastern slopes and foothills of the highlands plateau (present Bolivia),  the Parana Delta Guarani (Chandules), the Tupinikin and Potiguara the northeastern coast of Brazil today, the Cocamas, the Ñengatús and the Omaguas in the Amazon, among others.
Tupi-Guarani communities lived in villages consisting of several longhouses, which were used for years until the termites or other causes of degradation determined their abandonment. At that time they moved to another place, where established a new village and "opened" terrain for new crops in clearings."Abandoned" areas gradually reintegrated to the jungle ecosystem.
The Tupi-Guarani longhouses, were large, housed a set of "extended" families, sleeping in hammocks in the large huts.
From the productive point of view, Tupi-Guarani were farmers and fishermen. They also hunted  and gathered in the rich forest environment.  They navigated rivers, lakes and coastal waters and traded in long canoes built from large hollow logs.

The Tupi-Guarani were warring nations and periodically fought their neighbors, leading to numerous conflicts between communities. The war caused many deaths, usually men, who perished in the actions themselves, or after being taken prisoners, executed and eaten ritually. The lack of men favored polygamous practices. The chiefs could choose second or third wives divorcing their first ones.  In turn, the widowed or divorced wives, would instructed younger men on sexual and family issues.

The traditional Guarani culture was (and still is) deeply spiritual. It manifests itself mainly through its  his ñande reko or "way of being", which was a full expression of their identity, which could be ñande reko katu (way of being authentic and true) and ñande marangatu reko (way of being virtuous). The Tupi-Guarani religious thought is structured around the search for the "land without evil". In that sense it is a "moving" village, and at the same time possesses a worldview rooted in nature.
Tupi-Guarani nations deeply suffered the conquest and the population declined sharply everywhere. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people were enslaved, especially to work in the sugar cane plantations of northeastern Brazil. Another important part of the population was "reduced" in religious missions, losing much of their ancestral religion and customs. Millions died from disease and repressive wars imposed on them by the Portuguese and Spanish invaders.
However,  many Tupi-Guarani communities  survived migrating and hiding deep in the jungle territories.

At present the Tupi-Guarani native world is constituted by several surviving nations: the Kaiová-Pai Tavytera  in Mato Grosso and Paraguay, Ava Chiripá en Paraguay, Mbya guarani in Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay, Ava Guarani or Chiriguanos in the current departments of Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca and Tarija (Bolivia) and Salta, Argentina, and the Tapieté and Guarayos in the Chaco region (especially in western Paraguay and southeastern Bolivia). There are also several surviving Tupi communities in the Amazon region and in isolated spots along the Atlantic coast of Brazil.
From the book "First Nations of the South", D.Anton, Piriguazu Ediciones