Etiquette when staying with an indigenous community

Question

Later this year I'm going to Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil where I'm planning to stay for few days with an indigenous community by the Urubu river. It's not really an organized tour, my friend who is in touch with the group know will contact me with them, I'll pay for some tours to the forest with their guide and spend few days with the community.

They obviously are well in touch with civilization, they are descendants of the Wapishana people, mainly populated in the Rainforest of Guyana but also dispersed in Roraima and Amazonas.

Is there anything I should be aware of when staying with them to not seem as an obnoxious tourist and make the visit more pleasant?

Answer 1

I finally stayed in two different communities and talked to many other tourists I met in the Amazon. I think what's important to know before and during the stay is (very generalized of course):

• leave small gifts, things that they can't get in the community, I was asked if I could give them (or send later) stuff like:
  • food (they mostly have very simple food, like fruits, rice and fish, my guide loved protein bars and sweets I had with me)
  • batteries
  • camping equipment: headlights, mosquito nets, lighters etc.
  • clothes
  • hygiene products
• they never call themselves / don't like to be called indigenious, the ones I met identify just as Brazilians
• having mentioned that, their behavior is different in many matters, for example, they don't hug / kiss when meeting a new person (I got some very weird looks when I instinctively tried to do it, being accustomed to Brazilian customs)
• I met only one girl speaking English, and their Portuguese was difficult to understand for me sometimes (very weird accent and a many simplified words), but the communities receiving more tourists normally have someone speaking English and/or Spanish
• if you're a vegetarian or have other diet restrictions, make sure to let them know before or bring your own food, pretty much all their diet is fish and chicken based
• be careful with alcohol - they like to drink a lot, I was invited to one birthday party in the community, we drank a lot of cheap, homemade alcohol which made me really sick later... although I guess this one is more of common sense
• all the "accommodation" was extremely simple, so if you need anything more than a hammock to sleep, bucket of water as a shower and a hole in the ground as a toilet, bring it with you

I know most of my points seem common sense, but I met some people complaining about or not prepared for them.

Answer 2

Learn to like fish. They are modern today in most ways. Buy some hand made goods before leaving. Plywood shack to sleep in with roof. Many speak english.