Unreached people group Frontier
Kujubim
UnreachedThe Kujubim are an indigenous people living in the southwestern Amazon, in the state of Rondônia, near the border with Bolivia. They are spread across several municipalities and localities, with a notable presence in the Rio Guaporé Indigenous Land, in villages such as Baía das Onças and the former Ricardo Franco Indigenous Post, in the region of Guajará-Mirim and the Guaporé River. They are a small population, estimated at about one hundred people, classified as an unreached indigenous people.
Their own language, known as Kuyubi or Kaw Tawo, belongs to the Chapacuran language family. It is a language that is now critically endangered: the last elders who spoke it fluently have already passed away, and Portuguese has become the everyday language, especially among young people and children. Isolated words, names of animals, and elements of traditional culture remain in the collective memory, which the people are working to preserve.
In past decades, the Kujubim came to be considered extinct by the Brazilian state. Since then, however, they have been reaffirming their identity and their agency, fighting for recognition, for the memory of their ancestors, and for the continuity of their history as a distinct people in the Amazon of Rondônia.
| Country | Share of the people | Population |
|---|---|---|
Brazil Unreached
|
100%
|
100 |
The Kujubim live in small communities, often sharing territory with other peoples of the Rio Guaporé Indigenous Land. Their livelihood is tied to farming, fishing, hunting, and gathering in the forest, activities that also sustain cultural bonds and the knowledge passed down between generations. Fermented cassava drink and knowledge related to animals and plants hold an important part of their tradition.
Social organization rests on the memory of the elders and on families’ efforts to keep the group’s identity alive. Among the current challenges are the population’s dispersal across several municipalities, threats to their territories, outside pressures, and the weakening of their mother tongue, which has motivated documentation and cultural recovery initiatives led by the community itself.
The Kujubim worldview is rooted in traditional ethnic religions, shared with other peoples of the Amazon region. Life is understood in deep connection with the forest, the rivers, and the beings that inhabit them, and the spiritual world is perceived as present in daily life, in animals, in plants, and in places.
Oral tradition, myths, and the narratives of the ancestors hold a central place in passing on this worldview, giving meaning to the people’s existence and identity. Christianity has no significant presence among the Kujubim, and the gospel has not yet been proclaimed in a way that can be fully understood in their own language and culture.
The Kujubim carry deep spiritual needs, as they still do not know the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that is accessible and faithful to their reality, and they do not have the Scriptures in their own language. Alongside this are concrete needs: security and recognition of their territories, health care, the strengthening of the people’s identity, and the preservation of their endangered language. To intercede for them is to ask that, in the midst of their struggle for cultural survival, they may also find the living hope that comes from Christ.
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