Guanabara is an indigenous territory that was inhabited by people from the Tupi-Guarani linguistic trunk, mostly in Tupinambá villages. Today, the descendants of these peoples mainly live in caiçara communities*, where they continue to protect the waters and sustain themselves through artisanal fishing.

The name Araribóia, from the Temiminó people, can be translated as “macaw snake”, “parrot snake”, “storm” and “fierce”, changing over the years, which raises doubts about how it came to be written. Around 1520, he was baptized by Jesuits as Martim Afonso de Souza and was granted land in Niterói for allying with the Portuguese against the Indigenous resistance that fought to end slavery.

During this conflict, in 1567, the Uruçumirim Village was besieged, and one of the most significant Indigenous leaders in Guanabara’s history, Aimberê of the Tupinambá people, was killed. This event gave rise to Rio de Janeiro.

Araribóia then moved with his people to the top of Morro de São Lourenço, the founding site of Niterói, which in Tupi means “hidden waters”.

Renata Tupinambá – Historian

*A caiçara community is a traditional coastal group in Brazil, known for fishing, sustainability, and Indigenous heritage.