MEHINAKU People

The Mehinaku, Mehináko or Mehinacu are an indigenous people of Brazil. They live in the Indigenous Park of the Xingu, located around the headwaters of the Xingu River in Mato Grosso. They currently reside in area around the Tuatuari and Kurisevo Rivers.

The Mehinaku speak the Mehináku language, an Arawakan language. They also speak some Portuguese. A dialect of their language, Waurá-kumá is related to the Waurá language.

The Mehinaku have no provision for privacy in their social arrangements, and live with a striking degree of transparency. Huts that house families of ten or twelve people have no internal walls, and are situated around an open area that is in constant view. On the rare occasions when members of the group are out of sight, their activities can be inferred by their curious fellow villagers, who are able to recognize (and draw from memory) each other's footprints.

Extended info about Mehinaku people