KAWAB

also spelled Cawahb, South American Indian peoples of the Brazilian Mato Grosso. In the 18th and early 19th centuries they were driven out of their original home along the upper Tapajs River by the warlike Munduruk and split into six isolated groups between the Teles Pires and the Madeira rivers. The Parintintin of the Madeira River and the Tup-Kawab of the upper Jiparan River are the best-known remnant populations of the Kawab. All groups speak Tupian languages. The Parintintin economy was typical of the tropical forest, combining agriculture with hunting, gathering, and especially fishing. The Parintintin were, however, continually at war with all outsiders; they were cannibals as well as headhunters. They fought with the Munduruk, Brazilian colonists, and the Pirah until they made peace in 1922, when their numbers were estimated at 250. Many subsequently died of diseases introduced from Europe. The few remaining Parintintin live on the Igarap Ipixuna, a tributary of Lake Uruapira, or have become rubber workers on the Madeira River. The Tup-Kawab economy and culture were similar to those of the Parintintin. The Tup-Kawab had a complex social organization with more than 20 clans. They were first encountered in 191314 by the Brazilian military. The effect of European diseases on native populations is tragically demonstrated by statistics of the Tup-Kawab's Takwatip clan. From a population of 300 individuals in 1915, only 59 persons were alive in 1928, and by 1938 there were only 7 survivors.