Quilombo Calunga

Quilombo Calunga

Some 300km/185mi north-east of Brasília, on the border between Goiás and the recently established state of Tocantins, is the Quilombo Calunga, founded 250 years ago by runaway slaves from São Paulo, which has survived the ravages of time. The present population, an estimated 4000, live in villages of mud huts of a type still found in Africa. The area is at present being studied by anthropologists from the University of Goiás. The Calunga Indians live in the Serra da Contenda, near the town of Monte Alegre de Goiás.