Xukuru

The Xukuru inhabit the Serra do Ororubá in the uplands of Pernambuco. Amid the dry country of the agreste, the mountain has wetter areas with woodland, springs and productive soils. These resources have supported Indigenous communities whose history is closely tied to the slopes and settlements of Ororubá.

In the seventeenth century missionaries established an Indigenous village at Ararobá, bringing together Xukuru and other peoples of the region. The village served as a centre of catechesis for the peoples of the area. The settlement later became known as Cimbres and was raised to the status of a town in 1762. Colonial settlement and cattle raising brought increasing pressure on Indigenous land, but the Xukuru retained ties to the mountain and its places through successive changes in authority.