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South American Indian
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Map of South America and the Caribbean showing the distribution of Aboriginal cultural groups, with regions color-coded by cultural type including Andean, Central American, tropical forest, and various nomadic cultures such as aquatic nomads, forest hunters and gatherers, and shellfish gatherers. Major group names are labeled across the continent and surrounding islands. Museu do Índio, Brasília
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Map of South America and the Caribbean showing the distribution of Aboriginal cultural groups, with regions color-coded by cultural type including Andean, Central American, tropical forest, and various nomadic cultures such as aquatic nomads, forest hunters and gatherers, and shellfish gatherers. Major group names are labeled across the continent and surrounding islands.
distribution of aboriginal South American and circum-Caribbean cultural groups Distribution of aboriginal South American and circum-Caribbean cultural groups.

South American Indian

people
Written by
Louis C. Faron
Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, State University of New York at Stony Brook. Author of Hawks of the Sun and others.
Louis C. Faron
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

South American Indian, member of any of the aboriginal peoples inhabiting the continent of South America. The customs and social systems of South American peoples are closely and naturally related to the environments in which they live. These environmental relationships are mediated by the systems of technology that the people use to exploit their resources. Four basic types of social and cultural organization of South American peoples emerge from the archaeological and historical records: (1)...

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