Xavánte love poem

Xavánte (A'uwẽ, Akwén, A'uwe Uptabi, A'we, Akuên, Awen, Shavante, Chavante, Tapacua, Crisca, Pusciti), is a macro-jê language spoken by the Xavántes in eastern Mato Grosso in Brazil. No more than 10,000 people in some 180 villages speak this language. 30% of them are bilingual and also speak Portuguese.

Originally the Xavánte were in the State of Goiás, in the 19tt century they moved a little further west ... Contacts with Europeans (missionaries) are quite recent (20th century) and have been quite destructive for their culture. Currently the Xavántes live in "reserves" and if they keep their hunting practices, the latter no longer allows them to travel over vast territories to stay on their reserve.