Suruí (Pará)

The Suruí are an indigenous people of Brazil who live in the state of Pará. They are a different people than the Suruí do Jiparaná.

Name

The Suruí are also known as the Sororós, Aikewara, Akewara, and Akewere people.

Language

The Suruí do Pará language belongs to Subgroup IV of the Tupi-Guarani language family. It is written in the Latin script, and literacy rates in the language are extremely low.

History

First prolonged contact with the modern world came in the late 1960s. The tribe was decimated by disease. In 1960, they experienced an influenza epidemic, followed by a smallpox epidemic in 1962. The Suruí fled their homeland due to attacks by the Xikrin people.