Location:
The lavrado [high plains] region of the state
of Roraima in Brazil, and in Venezuela
How many:
582 in Brazil (FUNASA 2002) and 21,000 in Venezuela (2001)
Language:
Karib
Adolescent Taurepang girls in the Sorocaima village. Photo: Eliane Motta, 1984.
The majority of the Taurepang are found in the Venezuelan
savannah. Those living on the Brazilian side of the border
with Venezuela and Guyana are found in villages within the
Terras Indígenas São Marcos and Raposa Serra
do Sol, living alongside indians from other ethnic groups.
Since the early decades of the 20th century they have been
under pressure from the expanding cattle ranching frontier
on the high plains of Roraima. The presence of non-indians
on their lands intensified with the construction of the
BR-174 highway in the 1970s cutting across the TI. In 2001
an electricity transmission line was also constructed alongside
the highway. In exchange the indians saw the ranchers relocated,
but continue to live with the problem of having the seat
of the municipality located inside the TI.