Survey of California and Other Indian Languages

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Kawaiwete Field Materials
- Collection number: 2018-34
- Primary contributor: Myriam Lapierre (researcher, donor)
- Additional contributors: Awakatu Kayabi (consultant), Emarajup Kayabi (consultant), Itarajup Kayabi (consultant), Jywateju Kayabi (consultant), Kapinua Kayabi (consultant), Kupejani Kayabi (consultant), Makatu Kayabi (consultant), Mu'ni Kayabi (consultant), Pikuruk Kayabi (consultant), Reá Kayabi (consultant), Sirakup Kayabi (consultant), Tarejawat Kayabi (consultant), Tujat Kayabi (consultant), Wyrakatu Kayabi (consultant)
- Language: Kawaiwete
- Dates: 2018-
- Historical information: Kawaiwete is a Tupí-Guaraní language spoken by approximately 1000 people in Mato Grosso, Brazil. The Kawaiwete ethnic group is divided into three indigenous lands: the Xingu, Caiabi, and Apiaká-Kaiabi Indigenous Lands. The Kawaiwete vigorously resisted the invasion of their lands by rubber companies since the end of the 19th century, and many violent conﬂicts took place with rubber tappers and travelers during the ﬁrst half of the 20th century. The Kawaiwete’s original land was gradually occupied and the group was forced to work for the rubber companies. When the group was later contacted by the Indian Protection Service, they were offered to move to the Xingu. Most of the Kawaiwete accepted the offer, as it allowed them to escape the rubber tappers, and the group now lives in eleven or so different villages in the Xingu. The process left deep marks and divided the Kawaiwete, many of whom still regret having abandoned their traditional land. The small section of the population that refused to go to the Xingu remains in the Apiaká-Kayabi Indigenous Land. The language is no longer spoken in the Caiabi and Apiaká-Kaiabi Indigenous Lands, and the Kawaiwete who inhabit those areas are now monolingual in Portuguese. The Kawaiwete language is still in daily use by the those who inhabit the Xingu (approximately 70% of the entire entire population), though nearly all of them are fully bilingual in Portuguese (ISA 2017). As such, the situation is close to that of a language shift, and is thus a priority for language documentation.
  Myriam Lapierre's first field trip was in 2018 in the town of Canarana, Mato Grosso, Brazil, where she did lexical elicitation with Pikuruk Kayabi. The second was in 2019, where she first visited the village of Diauarum and then Capivara, both in the Xingu Indigenous Land.
- Scope and content: Sound recordings of elicitation and texts, field notes.
- Repository: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages
- Preferred citation: Myriam Lapierre. Kawaiwete Field Materials, 2018-34, Survey of California and Other Indian Languages, University of California, Berkeley, http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7297/X2Z036NC.