The Sanuma of Brazil

The Sanuma of Brazil, numbering approximately 700 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Yanomaman-speaking cultural subgroup of the Yanomami shaped by contact with the neighboring Ye'kuana, living semi-nomadically off hunting, fishing, and horticulture with land held and decisions made by village consensus. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Sanumá is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Brazil
People Cluster: Amazon
Primary Language(s): Sanumá (xsu)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG017094
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Sanuma 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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sanumá
Language Family: Yanomamic

100%
%
Sanumá Speakers

Media Resources in Sanumá:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Sanumá:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Missão Evangélica da Amazônia✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Sanumá bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sanuma 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 Sanuma:
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 Sanuma of Brazil

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
readRevelation 3:20

Pray that those who have not opened their hearts to Jesus will hear His knock and invite Him in as their Savior and Lord.

The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
readPsalm 146:9

Pray for God to watch over people, wherever they are, and cause them to meet believers who will share the gospel with them clearly and lovingly.

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
readHebrews 10:32-33

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the day of their salvation and persevere in their faith despite hardships and suffering.

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
readIsaiah 58:7

As believers cross cultures to share the good news of Christ, pray that God will sustain them and grow their faith as He gives them the compassion necessary to minister well to those in need.

Sanuma Across Countries (ROP3 - 108685) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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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