Canela Indians of Brazil

The Canella People

Before we can begin looking at the changes that have occurred to the Canela people and their way of life we must first figure out who they really are. The Canela people are native people who live in the upper east portion of Brazil. They a hunting and gathering style of people who also have been known to do some cultivating through agriculture as well. They are also considered to be lower class people within Brazilian culture. The Language they speak is called Ge and it is only found in Brazil. Although they come from a military style culture they usually only fight neighboring tribes to keep enemy numbers down and to avenge past battles. Although they were primarily hunters and gatherers they were known to do some agriculture too. They cleared trees and brush using stone axes and fire. Since the land they lived on was usually poor they would move their tribes every several years to find new land which was rich enough to sustain plant life. An interesting fact about the Canela is that they did not use ceramic pots or arrow heads. Instead they used gourds and sharpened tips. The reason why this is an interesting fact is because broken pots and arrow heads are what archeologist use to learn about a past culture. As time past the Canela were having more and more contact with other people such as ranchers and the military. The Indians were getting pushed from their ancestral lands and in return the Indians would kill ranchers. Later ranchers would retaliate and try to capture and kill other Indians and eventually made phony peace treaties. As the aggression rises the Indians began moving closer to the military posts for protection from the ranchers as well as enemy tribes. Although the Indians of Brazil had a tough time assimilating with the ranchers and other people the North American Indians faced similar problems. Some believe that the Indians of North America had a harder time and faced more cruel punishments. As the