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 is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!
readPsalm 47:7

Pray for those who live for idols that will never satisfy their hearts, asking that someone will tell them that God is the King of all the earth so that they will turn to Him in repentance and praise.

Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
readIsaiah 55:5

Pray that those who do not know God will access the gospel, run to Him, and discover that He is the one their souls have been longing for.

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!
readPsalm 105:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and may feel weak in their current circumstances, they will seek the Lord's presence and persevere in the Lord's strength.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Ask God to raise up people who will trust in His sovereignty as they share the gospel, knowing that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

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.

Scroll to Top