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The task of obtaining a population total of
the Park for all the ethnic groups in one year was recently
made possible, thanks to the work developed by the Unifesp
(Federal University of São Paulo) in the area of health,
through an agreement with the Funasa (National Health
Foundation). In the past, the censuses or population
estimates were made on the basis of researchers’ itineraries.
Given these limitations, in order to get an idea of
the demographic evolution of the Upper Xingu, the table
below was prepared, which is divided into three columns
(the first two being based on the research by Pedro
Agostinho, 1972). The first sets of data go back to
the end of the XIXth Century and are found in the texts
by Karl von den Steinen, but they refer to only a few
people. The numbers marked by asterisks indicate that
they were obtained by estimated calculation, supposing
that the villages had the same number of houses and
residents per house.
The second column corresponds to estimates by
different researchers who were in the region in the
middle of the XXth Century. For the year 1954, when
a measles epidemic devastated the region, the data indicate
the initial population, the number of deaths which occurred
in that year and the surviving population. The following
column presents the data of 2002 (based on the Unifesp
survey), which demonstrate a significant demographic
recovery.
| Population
of the Upper Xingu |
| Ethnic groups |
End of the XIXth Century |
Middle of the XXth Century |
2002 |
| Aweti |
|
80* (1924), 27 (1947-8), 27 (1952),
31-8=23 (1954), 36 (1963) |
138 |
| Kalapalo |
|
180-25=155 (1946), 150 (1948), 150-40=110
(1954), 100 (1963), 115 (1970) |
417 |
| Kamaiurá |
216/264* (1887) |
198/242* (1938), 110 (1948), 112-18=94
(1954), 115 (1963), 118 (1965), 119 (1969), 118
(1970) |
355
|
| Kuikuro |
|
140 (1948), 148 (1952), 145 (1954),
139-9=130 (1954), 118 (1963), 150 (1970) |
415 |
| Matipu |
|
16 (1948), 27-9=18 (1954), 51 added
to the Nahukwá (1963) |
119
|
| Mehinako |
At the most 308* (1887) |
56 (1949), 68 (1962), 55 (1963),
78 (1970) |
199 |
| Nahukwá |
|
18 ou 28 (1948), 17 (1953), 51 added to the Matipu (1963) |
105
|
| Trumai |
More than 43* (1884) |
43 (1938), 18 ou 25 (1948), 21-2=19
(1954), 21 + dispersed (1963), 26 (1966), 25 (1970) |
120
|
| Wauja |
171/228* (1887) |
95/96 (1948), 78 (1954), 86 (1963) |
321 |
| Yawalapiti |
|
28 dispersed (1948), 12 + dispersed
(1951), 25 (1954), 41 (1963), 41 (1965), 65 (1970) |
208 |
For the ethnic groups who lived more to the
north of the Park, the following are population data
from 2002 (also based on the Unifesp survey):
| Ethnic groups |
2002 |
| Ikpeng |
319 |
| Kaiabi |
745 |
| Yudjá |
248 |
| Suyá |
334 |
|
