Wanám
Two Wanám with weapons in 1914, Rio San Miguel. Photo by Erland Nordenskiöld 1914. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 0 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Brazil | |
| Languages | |
| Wanám | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism (often syncretic with indigenous beliefs) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Moré (Itene), Chapacura |
Photo and drawing of Wamán man with weapons. Photo by Erland Nordenskiöld, drawing by H. Kjellstedt, 1914
The Wanám (also Huanyam and Pawumwa) were a group of Amerindians once native to the region of southern Rondônia in Brazil. They lived on the Cautarinho, São Miguel and Manoel rivers near their confluence with the Guaporé. Around 1914 there were 300 Wanám. The rubber booms of the twentieth century destroyed the tribe because of the violence and diseases brought in by neo-Brazilians. The surviving Wanám went to live with neighboring groups called Kabixí living on the São Miguel River. Although the Wanám people did not survive as a distinct ethnic group, their language did, at least among the Kabixí.