LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL TRIBES IN THE VALLEY OF THE AMAZONS

Summary

The following alphabetical list is intended to contain every tribe on the main stream of the great river of the Amazons, and on its Peruvian and Ecuadorian tributaries, including all that are mentioned in this volume ; and, to that extent, I believe it to be nearly complete. A great number of tribes, inhabiting the “Gran Chacu,” and the banks of the Brazilian rivers, will also be found; and many hundreds which wander along the banks of the Tapajos, Xingu, Tocantins, and other great Brazilian streams, might have been added, had they been connected with the subject of the present volume.

I have inserted short notices of the more important tribes, taken from various sources; and a few words of explanation will make this list, which I trust will be found useful for purposes of reference in connexion with the voyages of Orellana and Acufia, sufficiently clear.

It is essential, in the first place, to pay attention to the date when each authority wrote ; because many of the names of tribes may since have disappeared, either from their having been changed, or from the tribe having merged into some other larger tribe, or from its having entirely disappeared, and become extinct.