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STUDY GUIDE FOR CHAPTER TWO, "CHANGE IN THE LIVES OF A BRAZILIAN
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE"

The Canela are a small group of Native Americans who live on a reserve (reservation) in the Brazilian state of
Maranhao. They face many economic and social problems in their efforts to achieve and maintain economic
autonomy and cultural integrity. The author of this chapter has studied this culture for about 50 years, and is
able to use self-recorded life histories (case studies) to illustrate the ways in which the Canela people have
responded to outside pressures.

Relevant terms and concepts:

Amazonia
slash-and-burn horticulture
foraging
indigenous people
backlanders
generalized reciprocity
market economy
reserve
FUNAI