Region
Amazonia and lowland South America
29 nations of Amazonia and lowland South America, each with its own name first and checked facts with sources.
29 nations
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Achuar
Also known as Achual
Lands Northern Loreto in Peru near the Ecuador border, and the neighboring Amazon of Ecuador
Peru's Ministry of Culture has registered five interpreters and translators of the Achuar language.
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Ashaninka
Also known as Ashenĩka
Lands Upper Juruá region of Acre, Brazil, including the Amônia, Breu and Envira rivers, near the Peruvian border
Ashaninka of the Amônia river created their own association, Apiwtxa, in 1991; it was officially registered in 1993.
Source: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Asháninka
Lands Central Peruvian Amazon in Junín, Ucayali, Pasco, Cusco, Huánuco and Ayacucho
In Peru's 2017 national census, 55,493 people identified as part of the Asháninka people.
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A'uwe
Also known as Xavante
Lands Eastern Mato Grosso, Brazil, in Indigenous lands such as Pimentel Barbosa, Marãiwatsédé, São Marcos and Sangradouro
The Xavante numbered about 22,256 people in 2020.
Source: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Avá Guarani
Also known as Ñandeva
Lands Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraná in Brazil, and eastern Paraguay
Guarani peoples, the Avá Guarani among them, live across a territory that spans regions of Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina.
Source: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Awajún
Also known as Aguaruna
Lands Northern Peruvian Amazon in Amazonas, Loreto, San Martín, Cajamarca and Ucayali
In Peru's 2017 national census, 37,693 people identified as part of the Awajún people.
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Baniwa
Also known as Walimanai
Lands Içana river and the Upper Rio Negro in Amazonas, Brazil, and neighboring Colombia and Venezuela
The Baniwa speak languages of the Arawak family along the Içana river.
Source: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Guarani Kaiowá
Also known as Kaiowá
Lands Southern Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, and neighboring eastern Paraguay, where the people are known as Paĩ Tavyterã
Guarani communities today call the places they live tekoha, a word that joins land, forest, fields, water, animals, plants and medicines.
Source: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Guarani Mbya
Also known as Mbyá
Lands Villages across southern and southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, Misiones province in Argentina, and near Montevideo in Uruguay
The Comissão Guarani Yvyrupa, founded in 2006, brings together Guarani collectives in six states of southern and southeastern Brazil.
Source: Comissão Guarani Yvyrupa (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Huni Kuin
Lands Rivers of Acre state in western Brazil, such as the Tarauacá, Jordão and Purus, and the Purus and Curanja rivers in Peru
MAHKU, the Huni Kuin Artists Movement founded in Acre in 2013, painted a large mural across the facade of the Central Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale.
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Ka'apor
Lands Northern Maranhão, Brazil, in the Alto Turiaçu Indigenous Land
Ka'apor communities have had a shared, standard sign language for communicating with deaf members of the community.
Source: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Kuikuro
Lands Upper Xingu, in the Xingu Indigenous Territory, Mato Grosso, Brazil
Kuikuro is a southern Carib language.
Source: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Macuxi
Also known as Makuxi
Lands Fields and mountains of northern Roraima, Brazil, between the headwaters of the Branco and Rupununi rivers, extending into Guyana and Venezuela
The Conselho Indígena de Roraima, founded in 1990, unites ten peoples including the Macuxi and Wapichana, with 270 of the state's 465 communities as members.
Source: Conselho Indígena de Roraima (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Mẽbêngôkre
Also known as Kayapó
Lands Forests and savannas of southern Pará and northern Mato Grosso, Brazil, along rivers of the Xingu basin such as the Iriri, Bacajá and Fresco
The Associação Floresta Protegida, created in 1998 by Mẽbêngôkre leaders, represents about 3,000 people in 31 villages across three Indigenous lands.
Source: Associação Floresta Protegida (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Munduruku
Also known as Wuy jugu
Lands Tapajós river basin in Pará, with communities in Amazonas and Mato Grosso, Brazil
In September 2024 Brazil's Justice Minister signed the declaration of the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Land, 178,173 hectares along the Tapajós river in Pará.
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Pataxó
Lands Villages in the far south of Bahia and the north of Minas Gerais, Brazil
A group of Pataxó researchers has been studying their language since 1998.
Source: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Pueblo Originario Kichwa de Sarayaku
Also known as Kichwa of Sarayaku
Lands Middle Bobonaza river basin, Pastaza province, Ecuadorian Amazon
About 1,500 Kichwa people of Sarayaku live in seven community centers across roughly 135,000 hectares on the Bobonaza river in Pastaza, Ecuador.
Source: Pueblo Originario Kichwa de Sarayaku (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Qom
Lands Gran Chaco of northern Argentina, especially Chaco, Formosa and Santa Fe provinces, plus communities in Buenos Aires and in Paraguay
The Qom language is being recovered in universities and in community-run spaces, and children and teenagers are taking it up.
Source: Unidiversidad, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (from Télam) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Sápara
Also known as Zápara
Lands Rainforest of Pastaza province in the Ecuadorian Amazon, straddling the border with Peru
UNESCO inscribed the oral heritage and cultural expressions of the Sápara people of Ecuador and Peru on its Representative List in 2008.
Source: UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Shipibo-Konibo
Also known as Shipibo
Lands Ucayali, Madre de Dios, Loreto and Huánuco in Peru, with an urban community at Cantagallo in Lima
Cantagallo, home to Shipibo-Konibo families, is the best known Amazonian Indigenous settlement in metropolitan Lima.
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Shuar
Lands Zamora Chinchipe, Morona Santiago and southern Pastaza provinces in the Ecuadorian Amazon
In 2022 the Shuar Aratsim Center approved its own Life Plan after participatory community workshops.
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Terena
Lands Mato Grosso do Sul, with communities in Mato Grosso and São Paulo, Brazil
Farming remains the main productive activity in Terena reserves.
Source: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Tikuna
Also known as Magüta
Lands Along the upper Solimões (Amazon) river in Amazonas, Brazil, and in neighboring Peru and Colombia
The General Organization of Bilingual Tikuna Teachers (OGPTB), created in December 1986, develops bilingual Tikuna and Portuguese education and teacher training.
Source: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Tsimane'
Also known as Chimane
Lands Forests and savannas of the Beni department, Bolivia, mainly along the Maniquí and Apere rivers
Tsimane' livelihoods center on small farms of plantains, rice, corn and sweet manioc, along with fishing, hunting and gathering.
Source: Culture and the Mind project, University of Sheffield (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Tupinambá
Also known as Tupinambá de Olivença
Lands Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia around Olivença, in Ilhéus, Buerarema and Una, with Tupinambá communities also in Pará, Brazil
The Tupinambá of Olivença live in the Atlantic Forest region of southern Bahia.
Source: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Waorani
Also known as Huaorani
Lands Orellana, Pastaza and Napo provinces in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Waorani territory includes 32 communities in three Amazonian provinces of Ecuador: Orellana, Pastaza and Napo.
Source: ICCA Registry (UNEP-WCMC) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Wapichana
Also known as Wapichan
Lands Northeastern Roraima, Brazil, and the South Rupununi in southwestern Guyana
In 2012 Wapichan leaders in Guyana presented a community map and land plan titled Thinking Together for those Coming Behind Us.
Source: Forest Peoples Programme (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Wichí
Lands Gran Chaco of northern Argentina, mainly Salta, Formosa and Chaco provinces, with related communities in southern Bolivia
In 2010 Argentina's Chaco province made the Wichí, Qom and Moqoit languages official languages of the province alongside Spanish.
Source: L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, Université Laval (CEFAN) (opens in a new tab) Checked
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Yanomami
Also known as Ianomâmi
Lands Forests of Amazonas and Roraima states in northern Brazil, continuing across the border into southern Venezuela
About 31,000 people live in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in Brazil, in roughly 384 villages of the Yanomami and Ye'kwana peoples.
Source: Casa Civil da Presidência da República, Governo do Brasil (opens in a new tab) Checked