The Guaianá of São Paulo: a contribution to the debate

Résumé

The Guaianá issue of whether or not the Piratininga (São Paulo) indigenous population is Tupi remains an open debate and has involved linguist and historians since the beginning of the past decade. This study is based on the writings and records of missionaries from the 16th and 17th centuries. It presents the hypothesis that both the Guaianá/Guaianan have the same macrojê language and their ethnic make up comes from various indigenous groups in Brazil that eventually became identified with each other: the Guaianá who lived in the Serra do Mar, between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, closely related culturally to the Puri, and the Guaianá who relocated from the South during the middle of the 18th Century, whose ancestor would have been the Kaingang indians.