People group profile · PG016941
The Kanamari of Brazil
The Kanamari of Brazil, numbering about 3,700 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Katukinan-speaking Amazonian people descended from groups of the upper Jurua River, now settled along the Itaquai, Javari, and Japura rivers within demarcated indigenous reservations, still relying on slash-and-burn farming, hunting, and fishing.
They are an indigenous people in the South American Indigenous people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism, and they primarily speak Kanamarí.

Fast facts
- Country
- Brazil
- Population
- 3,700
- Affinity group
- American Peoples
- People cluster
- South American Indigenous
- Primary language
- Kanamarí (knm)
- Primary religion
- Animism
- Strategic Progress Index
- No Longer Unreached
- Evangelical
- 2% or Greater but Less than 5%
- GSEC
- 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
- Lostness priority
- Minimally Reached People Group
- Region
- South America, Americas
- Location
- Amazonas: Itaquai, Jurua, Jutai rivers’ upper regions
Where they live
Gospel status
The Kanamari are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical.
- Congregations exist Yes
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Kanamari
- Pray for the churches among this group to grow in faithfulness and maturity
- Equip believers to reach the unreached peoples around them
- Send out laborers from this people to the nations
Primary religion
Animism · Ethnoreligion
70% adherents
Primary language
Kanamarí · Katukinan family
100% speak Kanamarí
Gospel resources in Kanamarí
- Bible not available
- JESUS Film not available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Kanamari
- Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
- Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
- John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
- Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
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