The Aparai or Apalai are an indigenous people of Brazil, who live in Amapá and Pará states.[2] A little community is located in French Guiana, in Antecume Pata.[3] They were sedentary slash-and-burn farmers, necessitating periodic relocation as soil became exhausted, but also hunters and gatherers. They spoke a Carib language and in the 20th century their subsistence shifted towards craftwork as they adapted to modern Brazil and the cash economy.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 564[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Brazil (Amapá, Pará) | 514 (2014)[1] |
 French Guiana | 40 (2011)[1] |
 Suriname | 10 (2011)[1] |
| Languages | |
| Aparai, Wayana, Portuguese | |
| Religion | |
| traditional tribal religion | |
Name
editThe tribe calls themselves Aparai. They have been known by Apalai, Appirois, Aparathy, Apareilles, Apalaii, Aparis and Apalaís.[4]
Language
editMost Aparai people are multi-lingual, and many speak Aparai, Wayana, Portuguese, and Tiriyó, as well as Wajãpi, Aluku, and Criollo. The Aparai language is one of the Karib languages.[4]
Population
editIn 1993, they numbered 450, and in 2014, there are 564 Apalai people. They usually live with the Wayana. The main group lives along the East Paru River in Brazil within Tumucumaque Indigenous Park and the East Paru Indigenous Land. A small group lives along the Maroni River in French Guiana. An even smaller group lives along the Tapanahoni River in Suriname.[1]
Most settlements are small except for Aldeia Bona which was founded by FUNAI to concentrate the population of the Apalaí and Wayana.[5] There are 18 settlements.[1]
- Aldeia Bona, Pará[5]
- Antecume Pata, French Guiana[3]
- Missão Tiriyó, Pará[6]
- Paloemeu, Suriname[1]
- Suisuimënë, Pará[6]
- Twenkë, French Guiana[1]
Notes
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h "Aparai". Socio Ambiental. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
- ^ "Aparai". Povos Indígenas no Brasil. (retrieved 17 March 2010)
- ^ a b Alì, Maurizio; Ailincai, Rodica (2013). "Learning and Growing in indigenous Amazon. The Education System of French Guyana Wayana-Apalaï communities". Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 106 (10): 1742–1752. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.196.
- ^ a b "Aparai: Name and Language". Povos Indígenas no Brasil. (retrieved 17 March 2010)
- ^ a b Boven, Karin M. (2006). Overleven in een Grensgebied: Veranderingsprocessen bij de Wayana in Suriname en Frans-Guyana (PDF). Amsterdam: Rozenberg Publishers. pp. 118–119.
- ^ a b "Caracterização do DSEI Amapá e Norte do Pará, conforme Edital de Chamada Pública n. 2/2017 (item 3.1)" (PDF). portalarquivos.saude.gov.br. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2021.