Zo'é

The Zo'é are a small Tupi-Guarani-speaking people of northern Pará state, in the forests of the Cuminapanema river basin. They are widely recognized by the poturu, the long wooden lip ornament worn by all adults, which gave rise to one of their exonyms. Their name for themselves, Zo'é, roughly marks 'us' as distinct from outsiders.

They lived in effective isolation until the 1980s, when evangelical missionaries established contact; in the years that followed, malaria and influenza epidemics killed dozens of people. FUNAI subsequently removed the mission and placed the territory under a controlled-access regime designed to protect Zo'é health and autonomy. Since then the population has recovered steadily to around 350 people.

The Zo'é live from manioc gardens, extended hunting and fishing expeditions, and skilled work in ceramics and weaving, moving seasonally between village clusters. Their land, the Zo'é Indigenous Territory on the Cuminapanema, is federally protected, and outside access remains strictly regulated. Public information about them is deliberately limited to safeguard a community still highly vulnerable to introduced disease.