The Gaviao of Maranhao of Brazil

The Gaviao of Maranhao of Brazil, numbering approximately 650 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an indigenous Timbira people of Maranhão in eastern Amazonian Brazil who speak Gavião, a Jê language. They preserve a distinct identity through communal festivals, kinship ties, traditional knowledge, and their relationship with the forest landscape. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Pará Gavião is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Gaviao of Maranhao

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Brazil
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Pará Gavião (gvp)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 650
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046937
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Gaviao of Maranhao 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

80%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pará Gavião
Language Family: Nuclear-Macro-Je

75%
%
Gavião, Pará Speakers

Media Resources in Pará Gavião:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Pará Gavião:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Pará Gavião bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Gaviao of Maranhao 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 Gaviao of Maranhao:
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 Gaviao of Maranhao of Brazil

The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
readPsalm 6:9

Pray that lost people will hear the gospel and place their faith in Christ, knowing that He hears their plea and accepts their prayer.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
readHebrews 10:36

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will patiently endure suffering and hardships and do God's will so that they may receive what He has promised.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:19-20

Ask God to bring people among this group to faith in Jesus who will be obedient to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded.

Pykopje Across Countries (ROP3 - 115272) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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