Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Kuruaya of Brazil

The Kuruaya of Brazil, numbering approximately 150 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Tupian people of the lower Xingu tributaries in Para state, encountered shortly after the Amazon's occupation around 1685, reduced to just 30 individuals by 1934 and now down to a single fluent speaker of their language. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Portuguese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Brazil
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Portuguese (por)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 150
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG016990
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Pray for the Kuruaya 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

95%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Portuguese
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Portuguese Speakers

Media Resources in Portuguese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

5 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Portuguese:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2014 Bible League International✓
Almeida Corrigida Fiel (ACF)✓
Almeida Revista e Atualizada✓
Almeida Revista e Corrigida✓
João Ferreira de Almeida Atualizada✓
Nova Traducao na Linguagem de Hoje✓✓
Tradução de João Ferreira de Almeida✓
Tradução Interconfessional - a BÍBLIA para todos✓✓

8 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Portuguese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kuruaya are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Kuruaya:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Kuruaya of Brazil

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRom 6:23

Pray that those who haven't heard yet will hear and believe that the wages of their sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
readPsalm 19:1-2

Pray that the lost will see the glory of God revealed in the heavens, that they will hear the good news, and that their hearts will be softened to respond to God’s call, turning to Him in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
readIsaiah 25:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will proclaim and rejoice in His salvation.

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
readActs 17:32

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures wisdom and discernment as they engage in spiritual conversations with those who are curious about the gospel.

Kuruaya Across Countries (ROP3 - 105464) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KuruayaPG016990KuruayaBrazil150Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseEthnoreligion

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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