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| The term Asuriní
derives from the Juruna language and has been used since
the 19th century to designate various Tupi groups living
in the region between the Xingu and Tocantins rivers.
The term began to be employed to name this particular
people in the 1950s by agents of the SPI (Serviço
de Proteção aos Índios - Indian Protection
Service) during the process of pacification. The Asuriní
of the Tocantins are also known as the Asuriní
of the Trocará (the name of their indigenous territory)
and the Akuáwa-Asuriní. This latter name
was used by the ethnologist Roque Laraia in the 1960s,
as the researcher considered the term Akuáwa to
be the group's autodenomination. However, the people have
adopted the term Asuriní as their autodenomination
for a number of years now. In contrast, as the anthropologist
Lúcia Andrade confirmed in the 1980s, Akuáwa
has acquired a pejorative connotation, being used to designate
'Indians of the forest' or 'wild Indians,' meaning those
only recently contacted. |
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