Arara of Rondônia

The Karo first came into contact with rubber tappers and rubber workers in the early decades of the twentieth century, but it was only in 1949 that the Indigenous affairs agency of the time established official, more extensive contact with the people. The result was tragic: diseases brought from outside wiped out much of the population, and many survivors ended up working on the region's rubber estates.

Population recovery and the regrouping of families into villages came only in the following decades, and the land where they now live was not officially demarcated until 1986. Since then, the people have gradually rebuilt their community life, although much of their traditional social organization has changed over this century of contact.

They live in two villages, Iterap and Paygap, within the Igarapé Lourdes Indigenous Territory, supporting themselves by growing cassava and corn, fishing with hooks and timbó, a plant that stuns fish in streams, and hunting from concealed positions. Crafts made with seeds, baskets, bows and arrows remain part of daily life, although older customs such as body painting with genipap have virtually disappeared.

Marriage is uxorilocal: the son-in-law moves in with his wife’s family and works alongside them. This kinship network, more than any outside institution, still organizes much of social life after decades of contact with the surrounding world.

Karo cosmology preserves origin myths that explain good and evil through the story of two brothers with contrasting temperaments, while other traditional narratives associate the jatobá tree with the origins of the region’s first inhabitants. Much of this traditional knowledge, however, has already been lost over the past century of contact with the outside world.

The shaman remains a respected figure in the village, recognized for his healing power and his role as a counselor. The Festa do Jacaré, held annually in Paygap village, is now one of the few occasions on which Karo cosmology and identity are collectively reaffirmed, with the shaman leading the songs and dances.

Karo, a language of the Ramarama family within the Tupian stock, is spoken by virtually everyone in the village, while Portuguese is used for contact with the surrounding area. There is no complete Bible in this language: only initial efforts to translate a few texts and a small number of audio recordings exist, still insufficient for the Word to circulate meaningfully among families in their own heart language.

Karo identity is deeply connected to ethnic religions and to the shaman, respected as the guardian of the village’s knowledge and health: embracing another faith may be seen as abandoning one’s own culture. Geographical isolation within the Indigenous territory, sometimes tense relations with the neighboring people and the almost complete absence of a church or Christian material in Karo keep this people far from any witness to the gospel.

After decades marked by epidemics and the loss of part of their original population, the Karo still face challenges in health and access to basic services within their Indigenous territory. Their longstanding relationship with the Gavião people in the same area, although usually peaceful, also calls for ongoing attention and mediation.

Spiritually, the greatest need is the almost complete absence of any Christian witness in their own language: there is no Karo faith community, nor enough portions of Scripture for the people to come to know Jesus on their own terms and in their own language.