Brasil

This report looks at three closely related speech varieties spoken in southern Amazonas state in Brazil: Jamamadi [jaa] (population 250), Jarawara [jap] (population 165), and Banawá [bnh] (population 80). Generally, their level of involvement in the Brazilian economy and society is quite low. Many are literate in their own indigenous language, but few speak, let alone read and write, Portuguese. Of the three, the Jarawara speak Portuguese the best.

One of the goals of this survey was to see if Jarawara and Banawá could benefit from additional Jamamadi literature. The results seemed to indicate that the Jarawara could do so more readily than the Banawá.