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In 1513, the Spanish traveller Vicente Yanez Pinzon
reported in Seville that he had found a numerous indigenous
population in the region north of the mouth of the Amazon
River, which was called Paricura Province, referring
to its inhabitants. After this first mention, the Indians
who are today known as Palikur were mentioned several
times in the reports and maps left by travellers in the
following centuries, and were designated on the basis
of corruptions of the same name, such as Paricuria, Paricura,
Paricores, Palincur(s), Palicur, Palicours, Paricur, Pariucur,
Parikurene, Parikur, Parincur-Iéne and, finally,
Palikur.
When they refer to themselves, the Palikur use
the term Pa’ikwené, "the people of
the river of the middle", alluding to the geographic
position of the Urukauá river , which lies between
the Uaçá and Curipi rivers. Pa’ik
is derived from Aúkwa, and means in the middle
(when translated to Portuguese it becomes Urukauá);
(w)ené is a self-explanatory suffix, which, in
this case, denotes people. Both for the Palikur who
live in Brazil as well as for those of French Guiana,
the Urukauá River is considered their homeland.
But, although they call themselves Pa’ikwené,
they are actually mentioned in the literature and known
in the region as Palikur. The use of the term Palikur
as an ethnonym arose from contact with non-Indians and
other ethnic groups of the region. For the Pa’ikwené,
Palikur is a synonym for Indian, being used to refer
to any other indigenous society.
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