The Kanamari of Brazil

The Kanamari of Brazil, numbering approximately 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 mostly adhere to Animism and Kanamarí is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Kanamari

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Brazil
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Kanamarí (knm)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 3,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG016941
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kanamari of Brazil

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

70%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kanamarí
Language Family: Katukinan

100%
%
Kanamarí Speakers

Media Resources in Kanamarí:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Kanamarí:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Kanamarí bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Kanamari are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Kanamari:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Kanamari of Brazil

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
readPsalm 62:1

Pray that those who are troubled and don't know about the God who saves will hear the good news and find rest in the one true God who can offer salvation for their souls.

Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
readPsalm 47:6

Pray that believers will have a heart to invite others to trust in Christ alone so that they might sing praises to His name.

This God - his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
readPsalm 18:30

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have access to His Word and the ability to understand it, so that they can grow in their faith and find refuge in Him.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
readPsalm 96:10

Pray for God to put in the hearts of believers to go to the lost and testify about the Lord who reigns.

Kanamari Across Countries (ROP3 - 104554) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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