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

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
readProverbs 30:5

Pray that those who don't yet know God will trust the flawless Word of God and seek refuge in Him, finding hope and salvation instead of remaining in spiritual darkness.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:3

Pray that God will be working in people's hearts, give them opportunities to receive the gospel, and bring many to faith in Himself.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
readPsalm 22:27

Pray that all families of the nations will worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
readJohn 1:9-10

Pray for those God might send to share the gospel here. Ask that they will grow closer to Jesus and be compelled to share His good news with people who don't know it.

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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