The Suruí reached their present location
in the beginning of the 20th Century, after fleeing
from the repeated attacks of the Xikrin, when they came
to inhabit the banks of the Vermelho River, tributary of
the Itacaiúnas. They entered into definitive contact
with the whites in 1960, when a flu epidemic killed two-thirds
of their population, reducing it from 126 to 40 people.
In 1962, a smallpox epidemic killed six more people. From
then on, the Suruí, abandoning their birth control
methods, began a rapid population recovery. In 1997, their
population had reached a total of 185 people.
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