Indian tribal members thriving in the Amazon rainforest used to be 5 million strong, according to the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures, but that number has decreased dramatically. Overall tribal member count is down to about 200,000, with only a few thousand of those belonging to the Kayapo tribe. As with other area natives, the Kayapo's food sources, way of life and even the tribe itself is in danger of extinction.
Food Sources
Kayapo have traditionally subsisted on foods they can hunt, gather or grow in their tropical rainforest and grassland environment near the Xingu River. Fishing and hunting are not only vital survival skills but also double as the only form of sport the culture enjoys. The tribe also grows some of its own food with harvesting and gardening, according to Encyclopedia.com.
Natural Food
Fish is one of the top items on the Kayapo menu, not surprising for a tribe located next to a major river. Their specialized hunting, in which they use poison arrows or darts, brings in an array of monkeys, turtles and other wildlife used for food. Gathering brings in wild fruits, vegetables and raw Brazil nuts while their and gardening adds tubers and other vegetables to the mix.
Store-Bought Food
Since the Kayapo's first contact with Europeans in the 1950s, change has been ripping through the land, both the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures and Survival International note. One of those changes was the building of village stores to serve area loggers and miners. Store-bought food that's been making its way onto the Kayapo menu includes rice, beans, milk, sugar and even cookies.
Xingu River Threats
The Xingu River remained in its natural state, with nary a drop of pollution, until the 1990s, the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia explains. Now both pollution and development threaten it. Developers proposed plans to build a series of hydroelectric dams along the river, a move that kicked off immediate protest by the Kayapo, according to the website Survival International. The dams would likely flood nearby prime hunting and harvesting areas, decrease the water quality and increase sedimentation and stagnant waters, neither of which would bode well for the fish or the Kayapos in general.
Other Threats
Other changes in the Kayapo's environment are not as benign as a handful of village stores that sell cookies and rice, the Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures and Survival International note. Loggers, miners, cattle ranchers and others are rapidly depleting the natural resources. This wreaks havoc not just on the food sources, but an entire culture.
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