Índios na cidade: perfil sociodemográfico dos indígenas residentes na região metropolitana de Belo Horizonte

Surveys carried out by entities linked to the indigenous cause, such as the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) and the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA) show that in Brazil there are about 200 indigenous peoples. These people are distributed throughout the country, and are divided into various ethnic groups and languages ​​spoken, with social, cultural and economic distinct. The size of this population varies according to the sources of information. Preliminary results of Census 2010 show that there are 815,000 indigenous people, about 0.4% of the total population.Data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) estimated that there are 32,000 people who declared themselves as indigenous in the state of Minas Gerais in 2010, while this figure was 49,000 in 2000. In Minas Gerais, the number of indigenous villages is approximately 12 thousand people, according to the census conducted by the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP) in 2007. According to this survey, nine indigenous peoples reside in the state, and they are Xakriabá, Maxakali, Krenak, Pataxó, Caxixó, Xukuru- Kariri, Pankararu, Aranã and Mukurin. This paper describes some characteristics of the self-declared indigenous population of the third largest metropolitan area in Brazil, the metropolitan area of ​​Belo Horizonte (MRBH), located in the state of Minas Gerais. For this survey, we used the data from the IBGE Census of 2000 and 2010 and information collected in field work, through interviews applied to a sample of indigenous residents in Greater Belo Horizonte. The sociodemographic study of the indigenous population of the self-declared MRBH yielded important information on the sociodemographic characteristics of this population. The present results, in general, show a poor, with low education, with precarious jobs without proper social security and assistance. Also shows a significant reduction in the number of Indians in MRBH with fundamental changes in the age structure.