Foto: Thomas Gregor, 1983

Mehinako

  • Other names
    Meinaco, Meinacu, Meinaku
  • Where they are
    MT
  • How many
    254 (Ipeax, 2011)
  • Linguistic family
    Aruak

Introduction

Inhabitants of the culture area/region known as the upper Xingu (encompassed by the Indigenous Park of the Xingu, the Mehinako belong to a broad complex of peoples who show few differences amongst themselves. The specialized system of commercial trade, the intersocietal rituals, and the patterns of intermarriage at once bind the Mehinako to other ethnic groups which surround them and distinguish them from this network. However, in the midst of their similarities with other peoples of the upper Xingu, the Mehinako consider themselves above all to be Mehinako, and are proud of being a special human community.