Kayapo People: Ethnic group

They are found along the plain islands of the Mato Grosso and Pará in Brazil, south of the Amazon Basin and along Rio Xingu and its tributaries. Kayapo call themselves "Mebengokre", which means "people of the wellspring". Kayapo people also call outsiders "Poanjos".

The Kayapo tribe live alongside the Xingu River in the eastern part of the Amazon Rainforest, near the Amazon basin. They live in several scattered villages ranging in population from, one hundred to one thousand people in Brazil. Their land consists of tropical rainforest savannah (grassland). It is arguably the largest tropical protected area in the world covering 11,346,326 million hectares. They have small hills scattered around their land and the area is criss-crossed by river valleys. The larger rivers feed into numerous spas and creeks, most of which don’t have official names.

In 2010, there was an estimated 8,638 Kayapo people. which is an increase from 7,096 in 2003. Subgroups of the Kayapo include the Xikrin, Gorotire, Mekranoti and Metyktire. Their villages typically consist of a dozen huts. A centrally located hut serves as a meeting place for village men to discuss community issues. One of the Kayapo tribes, all of the women shave a distinctive V shape into their scalp.