TUPINAMB

South American Indian peoples who spoke Tupian languages and inhabited the eastern coast of Brazil from Cear in the north to Prto Alegre in the south. The various groups bore such names as Potiguara, Caet, Tupinamb, Tupinikin, and Guaran but are known collectively as Tupinamb. The Tupinamb lived in unusually large patrilineal villages that numbered from 400 to 1,600 persons. They supplemented farming with ocean fishing. Cassava and corn (maize) were among their staple foods. Not much is known of their social organization. Warfare among the Tupinamb groups was constant, and indeed their religious and social values centred upon warfare and, it was alleged, on cannibalism. Ordinary Tupinamb social relations, on the other hand, were marked by gentleness and cooperation. The Tupinamb believed in demons and also in a great many ghosts who haunted dark places and often caused harm. They had shamans who communicated with spirits and were able to cure sickness. See also Tupian.