How the Indigenous women of the Juma tribe saved their culture from near extinction

Elias ChavezJan 15, 2024, 07:41 IST

Juma Indigenous sisters Mandei Juma, from left, Mayta Juma, and Borea Juma pose for a picture at their community, near Canutama, Amazonas state, Brazil.Andre Penner/AP Photos

The Juma Indigenous tribe once numbered in the thousands.
Years of settlers from the rubber and forestry industries decimated the population.

In the 18th century, an estimated 15,000 Juma people were located in the Amazonas state. After years of disease and massacres at the hands of rubber tappers, loggers, and miners, only 100 remained by 1943.

After a massacre in 1964 by the townspeople of Tapaua for access to resources on Juma land, 60 Juma people were killed, and only seven were left. By 1999, only one man was left in the patrilineal society, the chief Aruká Juma, after his brother-in-law died in a panther attack.

After Aruká died on February 17, 2021, the tribe was considered extinct. In the Juma tradition, the Juma name is passed on by the male, and Aruká Juma's children are all women.

Subjugated to years of displacement, massacres by settlers, and general mistreatment, Aruká's daughters — Mandeí Juma, Maytá Juma, and Boreá Juma — took matters into their own hands.

Here's how the Juma is keeping their culture alive in efforts led by the daughters of the last male chief.

Mandeí Juma became the first woman chief in the Amazonas.

Mandei Juma, right, and Borea Juma walk on a jungle path in their community, near Canutama, Amazonas state, Brazil.Andre Penner/ AP photos

Through their efforts, the Juma are beginning to make a comeback.

Juma children play in the water on the Juma reserve in Amazona, Brazil.Andre Penner/AP Photos

The children of the Juma daughters have taken on the name Juma in addition to Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau.

Pure Juma, son of Borea Juma, carries a basket filled with cassava on a jungle path in the Juma Indigenous community near Canutama, Amazonas state.Andre Penner/AP Photos

The Juma territory is roughly the size of Las Vegas and is surrounded by old-growth rainforest.

Juma tribe members pilot a boat on the Assua River in their territory near Canutama, Amazonas state, Brazil,Andre Penner/AP Photos

The community spends their days fishing.

A Juma fisher shows off a fish he just caught on the Assua River.Andre Penner/AP Photos

They also gather and grind cassava — a root native to South America — into flour by hand.

Juma Indigenous sisters Borea Juma, left, Mayta Juma, and Mandei Juma, right, collect cassava at their community.Andre Penner/AP photos

During the hottest parts of the day, the Juma gather at a community building called a maloca to relax in hammocks, eat, and tend to their birds.

A young Juma girl lies in a hammock and stares at the camera.Andre Penner/AP Photos

However, Mandeí still fears invasion and loss of land.

The trans-Amazon highway crosses the Assua River near the Juma Indigenous community.Andre Penner/AP photos

Additionally, urban farming practices are disrupting the local environment and negatively impacting the Indigenous way of life.

Mayta Juma, right, and her partner Puruem Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau ride a boat on the Assua River in the Juma Indigenous community.Andre Penner/AP Photos.

Despite the dangers of encroaching loggers, poachers, and fishermen, the Juma are doing what they can to keep tradition alive.

Borea Juma lights firewood to grill fish in the Juma Indigenous community near Canutama.Andre Penner/AP Photos

The Juma community is still small — only two dozen people remain in the village.

A group of Juma Indigenous women prepare the day's catch in their community.Andre Penner/AP Photos

But Mandeí and her sisters are working to maintain tradition and bring back their tribe from the brink of extinction.

Butterflies fly around the banks of the Assua River, next to Juma Indigenous land.Andre Penner/AP Photos

Travis Kelce and 'nepo baby' are among the most mispronounced names and words of 2023

Cookies on the Business Insider India website