Gê

Gê 

a group of Indian tribes in eastern Brazil (including the Craho, Cayapo, Apinage, Timbira, and Sherente tribes), related on the basis of cultural and linguistic similarities. Prior to European colonization, the Ge peoples lived in bush savannas primarily between the Tocantins and San Francisco rivers (right tributaries of the Amazon). The Ge engaged in hunting, gathering, and farming. Their social organization was characterized by moieties (dual divisions of tribes) and considerable vestiges of a matriarchate. As a result of European colonization, most of the Ge either died out or became assimilated. Many of the remaining tribe members have been settled on reservations. According to an Indian census of 1957, the Ge peoples number 15,600.

REFERENCE

Handbook of South American Indians, vol. 1. Washington, D.C., 1946.