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

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
readPsalm 9:9-10

Pray that God will help those who are oppressed and without hope to hear the good news of Jesus and trust in Him, for He has never forsaken those who seek Him.

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.

The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
readNumbers 6:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be blessed with peace in their lives, knowing that God is with them.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
readJohn 1:12

Pray that believers will have the opportunity to clearly share the good news with the lost here, so that all people can be invited to trust in Jesus and become children of God.

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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