Macushi

The Macuxi (Portuguese: Macuxi) are an ethnic group of Southern-Guyana and northern Brazil. There are approximately 15,000 Macushi speakers in Brazil and 9,000 in Guyana.

Origins

The Macushi see themselves as descendants of the sun's children, who created fire, as well as diseases, and they also believe they discovered Washacá - Tree of Life. The Macushi believe in the life principle - stkaton - and they believe it comes from the sun.

Lifestyle

They live in villages linked together by sausage, with houses built round a central court yard. When married, the Macushi couple lives in the wife's family's village and milk the father-in-law. It is of great importance in Macushi kinship.

History

Cuthbert Cary-Elwes, a Jesuit missionary settled among the Macushi of the Rupununi Region (Guyana) in 1909, learned the language and stayed with them for more than 23 years. On his return to England, through his lectures he made the people of the region better known and respected.

The Brazilian Government have set up schools, as well as hospitals for the Macushi and since 2005 they are campaigning for land rights to be recognized throughout Brazil. Some individuals from the Macushi tribe are very well educated. In the trial for the land rights, Joênia Batista de Carvalho Wapichna was the first lawyer with Indian roots to give a speech in the STF (Superior Tribunal Federal).

External links

• Dramatic video shows attack on Indian village 20 June, 2008

References

• J.Bridges (ed): Rupununi Mission: the story of Cuthbert Cary-Elwes, London, 1985.
• Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International.