[The demographic revolution among Brazilian indigenous peoples: the case of the Kayabí in the Xingu Indian Reservation, Mato Grosso State, Brazil, 1970-2007]. / A revolução demográfica dos povos indígenas no Brasil: a experiência dos Kayabí do Parque Indígena do Xingu, Mato Grosso, Brasil, 1970-2007.

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes the demographic dynamics of the Kayabí, a Tupi people in the Xingu Indian Reservation in Central Brazil, from 1970 to 2007. Data were gathered from vital statistics for the Xingu Indian Reservation at the Federal University in São Paulo. Contact with Brazilian national society from 1920 to 1950 in the Upper Teles Pires River Valley led to a population decrease due to clashes and epidemics. In 1952, part of the Kayabí group gradually began migrating to the Xingu, where they still live. In 1970 there were 204 Kayabí in Xingu villages, and by 2007 there were 1,162, representing a 4.8% annual growth rate. For 2000-2007 the crude birth rate was 51 per thousand inhabitants; total fertility rate 7.8 children per women; crude death crude 3.5 per thousand inhabitants; and infant mortality rate 17.5 per thousand live births. The majority of the population is under 15 years of age (55.9%). The results show a population recovery process, similar to that of some other indigenous group in Brazil.