Background Information and Population

The Kayapo inhabit five legally ratified indigenous territories in south of the state of Pará and the north of the Mato Grosso state. This contiguous block of five territories (nearly 105,000 km²) is home to approximately 7,000-8,000 Kayapo living in about 18 villages. The forest provides the Kayapo with all their subsistence needs. The Kayapó live a relatively traditional lifestyle subsisting primarily by gardening, fishing, hunting, and collecting forest products. Beading is an important part of Kayapó culture and a source of great pride among Kayapó women. Men, women, and children are always wearing vibrant and beautifully beaded pieces.  Kayapo society is communal and based on principles of egalitarianism with a rich ceremonial component that bonds community members into a single entity. This well developed social organization generates strength in leadership and solidarity to face threats to Kayapo land and culture.

The Kayapo, had been pushed eastward from woodland savanna into canopy forest by the advancing frontier, were “pacified” by government agencies and missionaries in the 1950s and 60s as their population underwent decimation by introduced diseases. As late as the 1960s, they were a warrior culture that practiced raiding against their neighbours, and boys were raised to fight.

Over the last three decades, Kayapo society has undergone many changes. Increasing contact with government agents, missionaries and others in the 1970s introduced superficial change, such as western clothing, use of guns and metal tools. During this period as well, land claims were heating up as the Kayapo militantly defended their traditional territories. In the mid-1980s, more drastic social change occurred as Kaypao leaders succumbed to the seduction of goods and money offered by illegal mahogany loggers and gold-miners seeking concessions on Kayapo lands. The Kayapó territory is surrounded by areas of vast environmental devastation caused by ranching, mining, and logging that threaten their traditional way of life.

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