View source for Macushi

{{Short description|Indigenous people of Brazil}}
{{for|the language|Macushi language}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Macushi
| native_name      = Makuusi
| native_name_lang =
| image            = File:Poblado macushi.jpg
| caption          = Macushi village in Brazil
| population       = 43,192<ref name="socio">{{cite web| url=https://pib.socioambiental.org/en/Povo:Macuxi |title=Macuxi|website=Socio Ambiental|access-date=28 February 2021}}</ref>
| region1          = {{Flag|Brazil}}
| pop1             = 33,603 (2014)<ref name="socio"/>
| region2          = {{Flag|Guyana}}
| pop2             = 9,500 (2011)<ref name="socio"/>
| region3          = {{Flag|Venezuela}}
| pop3             = 89 (2011)<ref name="socio"/>
| languages        = [[Macushi language|Macushi]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[English language|English]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]]<ref name=ethno>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mbc "Macushi."]  ''Ethnologue.'' Retrieved 30 July 2012.</ref>
| religions        = [[Native American religion|Indigenous religion]], [[Roman Catholicism]]
| related          =
}}
The '''Macushi''' (''Makuusi'', {{langx|pt|Macuxi}})  are an [[indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous people]] living in the borderlands of southern [[Guyana]], northern [[Brazil]] in the state of [[Roraima]], and in an eastern part of [[Venezuela]].<ref name=ethno/>
==Identification==
The Macushi are also known as the Macusi, Macussi, Makushi, Makusi, Makuxi, Teueia, and Teweya people.<ref name=ethno/> Macushi, as well as the Arecuna, Kamarakoto, and Taurepan are considered sub-groups of [[Pemon]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rivière|first=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cuqRdT8zlxYC&q=macushi+religion&pg=PA21|title=The Guiana Travels of Robert Schomburgk, 1835-1844: Explorations on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society, 1835-1839|date=2006|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-904180-86-2|pages=21|language=en}}</ref>
==Language==
Macushi people speak the [[Macushi language]], a Macushi-Kapon language, which is part of the [[Carib language family]]. Some in Brazil also speak [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], while some in Venezuela speak [[Spanish language|Spanish]], and some in Guyana speak [[English language|English]]. The Macushi language is written in the [[Latin script]], and the [[New Testament]] was translated into the language in 1996.<ref name=ethno/>
Macushi were hesitant to teach their language to outsiders, thus the language was threatened in the 1950s, as it was considered "slang" compared to the official Portuguese.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Melo|first=Luciana Marinho de|date=15 April 2016|title=The sociocultural formation of Boa Vista – Roraima and the Macushi and Wapishana people in the city: historical process and sense of belonging|url=https://revista.ufrr.br/textosedebates/article/view/3387|journal=Textos e Debates|language=pt|issue=28|pages=60|doi=10.18227/2217-1448ted.v0i28.3387|issn=2317-1448|doi-access=free}}</ref>
==Housing and lifestyle==
They live in villages linked together by tracks and paths, with houses built round a central courtyard. When married, the Macushi couple lives in the wife's family's village and the father-in-law is of great importance in Macushi kinship.
Macushi practice hunting and agriculture methods such as shifting cultivation and fish-poisoning.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Jafferally|first=Deirdre|date=January 2017|title=The Implications of Changing Makushi Identity and Traditional Practices for Forest Conservation in Guyana|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/81671745.pdf|access-date=28 February 2021|page=38}}</ref>
Similar to other indigenous groups in the area, Macushi traditional life relies a great deal on the bitter cassava, and cultivation tasks are divided by gender. Men traditionally clear the land and women tend and harvest. In Macushi lore, cassava was created for cultivation purpose and is overseen by a Cassava Mother (''kisera yan''). Women are the main processors, and the main products are cassava bread, farine, [[parakari]], wo (drink), starch tapioca, and casereep. Village status is correlated to success in cassava farming.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Elias|first1=Marianne|last2=Rival|first2=Laura|last3=McKey|first3=Doyle|date=Winter 2000|title=PERCEPTION AND MANAGEMENT OF CASSAVA (MANIHOT ESCULENTA CRANTZ) DIVERSITY AMONG MAKUSHI AMERINDIANS OF GUYANA (SOUTH AMERICA)|url=https://ethnobiology.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/JoE/20-2/Elias-etal.pdf|journal=Journal of Ethnobiology}}</ref>
==History and culture==
Macushi [[oral tradition|oral history]] describes them as descendants of the sun's children, the benevolent Insikiran (Inshkirung) and his malevolent brother Makunaima (or Negi)<ref name=":0" /> who created fire, as well as diseases, and they also believe they discovered ''Washacá'', the [[Tree of Life]]. The Macushi believe in the life principle – ''stkaton'' – and they believe it comes from the sun.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1998|title=I figli del Sole|url=http://assets.survivalinternational.org/static/files/related_material/53_133_227_figlidelsole.pdf|access-date=28 February 2021|website=survivalinternational.org|language=it}}</ref> Similar to other Amerindian groups (such as [[Patamona people|Patamona]] or [[Akawaio people]]) is the importance of the ''piaiman'', a medicine-man or spiritual leader<ref name=":0" /> and belief in ''keinaimi (kanaima)'', a type of evil spirit that is personified as an "outsider" that brings death and misfortune.<ref name=":2" /> Kanaima have been associated with shape-shifting (usually animals such as jaguars, bats, or armadillos) and attacks are often directed at individuals when they are alone, in which they would be assaulted and die some days later. Another use of the term applies spiritual context to stealth, assassin-like tactics as a form of protection, but can come back to harm the beneficiaries as well.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Whitaker|first=James Andrew|date=15 December 2017|title=Guns and Sorcery: Raiding, Trading, and Kanaima among the Makushi|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329972388|access-date=2 March 2021|via=ResearchGate|journal=Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America|language=en|issn=2572-3626}}</ref>
The earliest recorded mentions of Macushi was in 1740 in context of Luso-Brazilian slave raids led by Irishman Lourenço Belforte. From the 1700s to the late 1800s, the Macushi were pushed north by Portuguese and Brazilian raids, and south by Caribs and Akawaio proxies for the Dutch and English, limiting the extent of their lands to the [[Rupununi Savannah]]. While there are reports of Macushi selling their own into slavery, it has also been noted that this was done under duress. In the 1800s, Macushis "specialized in producing hammocks, various crafts, and a potent form of curare" which were traded among other Amerindian groups in the region often for cassava graters and blow-pipes.<ref name=":3" />
Prior to European colonization, Macushi were semi-nomadic, but permanent settlements have since formed usually around Catholic or Anglican missions or government-built schools. By the 1900s, many Macushi worked as laborers doing balata-bleeding or cattle-ranching.<ref name=":1" /> Brazilian indigenous policies have had a more visibly significant effect on Macushi culture compared to the Guyana side, which on the most part had been to leave them alone.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Myers|first=Iris|date=1993|title=The Makushi of Guiana - Brazilian Frontier in 1944 A Study of Culture Contact|url=http://www.fundacionlasalle.org.ve/userfiles/Ant%201993%20No_%2080%20p%203-99.pdf|journal=Anthopologica|volume=80|pages=3–99}}</ref>
=== Brazil ===
During the 18th century in Brazil, non-native people occupied Macushi territory, establishing mission villages and farms and forcing Macushi people to relocate.<ref name="intro">[http://pib.socioambiental.org/en/povo/makuxi "Macuxi: Introduction."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515035718/http://pib.socioambiental.org/en/povo/makuxi |date=15 May 2012 }} ''Instituto Socioambiental: Povos Indígenas no Brasil.'' Retrieved 30 July 2012.</ref>
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. Macushi are the largest indigenous group in the Roraima, and make up a segment of the population of [[Boa Vista, Roraima|Boa Vista]]. [[Raposa Serra do Sol]] is a recognized indigenous area of the Macushi.<ref name=":0" />
=== Guyana ===
In Guyana, the Macushi settled in the Northern Rupununi Savannah.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://moipa.gov.gy/amerindian-nations/|title=Amerindian nations|website=Ministry of Indigenous Peoples' Affairs|access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref> [[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.<ref>[http://www.guyanajesuits.org/mission/Kurukabaru%20and%20Lethem/interior/interior.php "The Interior."] ''The Jesuits in Guyana.'' Retrieved 30 July 2012.</ref> The [[Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development|Iwokrama International Centre]] is managed by Macushi and the villages of [[Annai, Guyana|Annai]], Kwatamang, [[Surama]], [[Rewa, Guyana|Rewa]], Crash Water, [[Karasabai]] and [[Yupukari]] are considered Macushi settlements.<ref name=":1" /> In the southern Rupununi, [[St. Ignatius, Guyana|St. Ignatius]] and Moco-Moco also Macushi settlements.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Edwards|first1=W.|last2=Gibson|first2=K.|date=1979|title=An Ethnohistory of Amerindians in Guyana|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/481091|journal=Ethnohistory|volume=26|issue=2|pages=170|doi=10.2307/481091|jstor=481091|issn=0014-1801}}</ref>
The [[Rupununi Uprising]] which was led by prominent European and Amerindian ranching families, covered much of the traditional Macushi territory<ref name=":1" /> and many Macushi were also killed.
==Notable people==
* [[Sydney Allicock]] (~1954), Guyanese Vice-President.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.caribbean-beat.com/man-iwokrama |title=Sydney Allicock: the man from Iwokrama|website=Caribbean Beat|date=November 2010|access-date=28 February 2021}}</ref>
* [[Alister Charlie]], (born 1977 or 1978), Guyanese politician<ref>{{Cite web |title=Breaking the glass ceiling - Guyana Chronicle |url=https://guyanachronicle.com/2020/08/31/breaking-the-glass-ceiling/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=guyanachronicle.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Jaider Esbell]] (1979-2021), Brazilian artist, activist, author<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/04/21/bittersweet-triumph-of-indigenous-artist-jaider-esbell-at-venice-biennale |title=Bittersweet triumph at Venice Biennale of late Indigenous artist Jaider Esbell |website=The Art Newspaper |date=21 Apr 2022 |access-date=30 May 2022}}</ref>
* [[Bernaldina José Pedro]] (1945–2020), Brazilian activist and tribal leader.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/03/obituaries/bernaldina-jose-pedro-dead-coronavirus.html |title=Bernaldina José Pedro, Repository of Indigenous Culture, Dies at 75|website=The New York Times|access-date=28 February 2021}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
*Cuthbert, Cary-Elwes. Bridges, John, ed. ''Rupununi Mission: the story of Cuthbert Cary-Elwes''. London: Jesuit Missionsstka, 1985.
==External links==
{{Commons category|Macushi}}
* [http://www.survival-international.org/news/3389 Dramatic video shows attack on Indian village] 20 June 2008
{{Indigenous peoples of Brazil}}
{{Ethnic groups in Guyana}}{{Venezuelan people}}{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macushi People}}
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Brazil]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Guyana]]
[[Category:History of Roraima]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples in Brazil]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples in Guyana]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples in Venezuela]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of the Guianas]]
[[Category:People from Roraima]]
[[Category:Macushi| ]]