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Shawadawa Indian Language (Shawa, Arara do Acre)

Language: Shawadawa is a Panoan language of South America, spoken by about 150 people in Brazil. It has previously been considered a dialect of Yaminawa, another Panoan language, however as more Shawadawa speakers have been contacted, more differences between Shawadawa and Yaminawa have emerged.

Names: "Arara" is a Tupi word for "macaw," which was quickly borrowed into Brazilian Portuguese. Since many tribes used the Macaw as a tribal symbol or wore colorful parrot feathers in their regalia, there have been many distinct tribes whose names have been translated as Arara over the years. The Shawadawa have therefore been known as the Arara do Acre, after the location where they live, or the Arara Pano, after their language family, to disambiguate them from the Carib-speaking Arara do Para or the Tupi-speaking Arara do Rondonia. However, their own name for the macaw is Shawa, not Arara, and the Panoan name for their tribe is Shawadawa or Shawannawa.

Shawadawa Language Resources

Arara do Acre Phonology:
Linguistic chart of phonemes in the Shawadawa language.

Arara Language (Panoan):
Wikipedia article on the Shawadawa language.

Idioma Shawanauá:
Information about the Shawadawa language in Spanish.

OLAC: Shawanauá and Sharanahua:
Reference list of Shawadawa language materials.

Shawadawa Culture and History Links

Indigenous Peoples in Brazil: Arara Shawãdawa:
Information about Shawadawa culture and history.

Links, References, and Additional Information

Povo Shawadawa

Araras-chauanauá:
Information about the Shawadawa tribe in Portuguese.

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