Crash and rebound of indigenous populations in lowland South America

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 4; no. 1; p. 4541
• Main Authors: Hamilton, Marcus J., Walker, Robert S., Kesler, Dylan C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.04.2014; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/158; 631/158/1745; Brazil; Censuses; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Models, Theoretical; multidisciplinary; Population Density; Population Dynamics; Population Groups; Science; Brazil
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep04541

Lowland South America has long been a battle-ground between European colonization and indigenous survival. Initial waves of European colonization brought disease epidemics, slavery and violence that had catastrophic impacts on indigenous cultures. In this paper we focus on the demography of 238 surviving populations in Brazil. We use longitudinal censuses from all known indigenous Brazilian societies to quantify three demographic metrics: 1) effects of European contact on indigenous populations; 2) empirical estimates of minimum viable population sizes; and 3) estimates of post-contact population growth rates. We use this information to conduct population viability analysis (PVA). Our results show that all surviving populations suffered extensive mortality during and shortly after, contact. However, most surviving populations exhibit positive growth rates within the first decade post-contact. Our findings paint a positive demographic outlook for these indigenous populations, though long-term survival remains subject to powerful externalities, including politics, economics and the pervasive illegal exploitation of indigenous lands.