Marajó Island, Brazil

Francisco J.S. de A. Correa Jr.

The earliest documents written by European colonizers narrating their navigations in the Amazon told of golden cities and fearless women warriors, giant anacondas and man-eating ants.  Throughout the centuries, they contributed to create and perpetuate the stereotypical image most of the world has of the largest region of Brazil.  Science was able to render some of these stories into what they really are, folk legends.  Nevertheless, research has turned the less believable ones into hard-core facts – the man-eating ants, surprisingly, do exist! – and whereas there is still no sign of the El Dorado, archeological evidence has suggested the existence of advanced, pre-historic civilizations.  The Marajoaras were one of them.
    The island of Marajó is located in the northernmost tip of Brazil, exactly where the three major rivers of the Amazonian basin find the Atlantic salty waters in a powerful phenomenon called by the natives the Pororoca.  With an area of over 40,000 km2 – bigger than Switzerland, for example – it is the largest island in the world to be completely surrounded by freshwater.  The first European to set foot on the island was a Spaniard from Palos de la Frontera, Murcia, called Vicente Yañes Pinzón, in 1498, two years before Pedro Álvares Cabral arrived with his fleet in Porto Seguro.  Up until the XVIII century, it was known as Ilha Grande de Joanes (Great Isle of Joanes), a name given by the Spaniards.  Before that, it was called Nheegaibas (different languages) Island, because of the number of different tribes that inhabited there.  The Marajoaras were believed to have inhabited the southern part of the isle and served as inspiration for its current name.  The Portuguese dictionary Aurélio defines Marajó as “the wind that blows in the afternoon”, but its origin may come from Mbara-yó, which in Tupí means “sea reef”.  In the eyes of the old world colonizers, it resembled a wall built by nature itself against the forces of the ocean.