Macuxi

Macuxi refers to the Macushi country between the headwaters of the Branco and Rupununi rivers in the Guiana interior. Its southern savannas meet more densely wooded uplands to the north. Cariban-speaking communities occupied villages and smaller settlements connected by paths, with family relationships extending across the boundaries separating neighbouring peoples. Bitter cassava supplied bread, flour and drinks, while hunting, fishing and shifting cultivation supported village life.

Portuguese expansion into the Branco valley in the eighteenth century brought military posts and attempts to concentrate Indigenous inhabitants in mission villages. In 1775 the Portuguese built Fort São Joaquim where the Uraricoera and Tacutu meet, seeking to secure approaches toward Spanish and Dutch territories. Macuxi participation in the mission settlements remained limited. Two chiefs, Ananahy in 1784 and Paraujamari in 1788, brought small groups, but their stays were brief. In 1790 Paraujamari was accused of leading a rebellion during which most settled inhabitants fled. These encounters reveal an inland society whose leaders and families continued to make their own decisions amid expanding colonial demands.

The later city of Boa Vista lies here.