Emerillon

The Emerillon (or Emerilon, Emerion, Mereo, Melejo, Mereyo, Teco) - now called Teko, using their own denomination - are a Tupi–Guarani-speaking people in French Guiana living on the banks of the Camopi and Tampok rivers. Their subsistence is based on horticulture, hunting and various fishing techniques. As of 2001 they numbered about 400 individuals.[1]

For other uses, see Emerillon (disambiguation).

History

The Emerillon constitute one of the six now-living ethnic groups of French Guiana already present before colonization. More nomadic than the other ethnic groups of the area, the Emerillon resided on different rivers in French Guiana during the colonial period, notably on the Approuague and, more recently, they settled within the surroundings of the Maroni River and the Camopi River. Their villages, usually located at a distance from the rivers for protection from raids, were moved frequently due to soil exhaustion, warfare, and several customary reasons, like the death of an inhabitant. Internal warfare was common and the members of the tribe practiced cannibalism as a means of revenge and of recuperating their enemies' forces.

The Emerillons' first contact with the Europeans occurred in the 18th century, when the number of male warriors were estimated at 400 - meaning that the group in its entirety was estimated to number around 1200. They were harassed by the Galibi Indians who captured women and children and sold them as slaves in Surinam. By the 19th century internal and intertribal warfare had weakened the Emerillon to the point of being collective slaves to the Wayampi. This, along with the epidemics brought in by the gold prospectors, greatly reduced their numbers. By the late 1960s, when the prospectors left the area, the Emerillon were in a poor state of health. But due to general health improvements and various demographic strategies, they have since grown to the number of approximately 400.

In the 1960s, the French Government contacted all tribes to ask them whether they wanted French citizenship. The Wayampi and the Emerillon were the only tribes who decided against citizenship.[2]

References
  1. Møhl, Perle (2012). "Omens and Effect: Divergent Perspectives on Emerillon Time, Space and Existence". France: Semeion Editions. ISBN 979-10-90448-02-5
  2. "Considérations sur la situation des Amérindiens de l'intérieur de la Guyane page 223". Persée (in French). 1990. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  • Ethnologue.com
  • Wilbert, Johannes; Levinson, David (1994). Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Volume 7: South America. Boston: G. K. Hall. ISBN 0-8161-1813-2
  • Møhl, Perle (2012). "Omens and Effect: Divergent Perspectives on Emerillon Time, Space and Existence". France: Semeion Editions. ISBN 979-10-90448-02-5
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