Museu do Índio
Created in 1953 by Darcy Ribeiro, the Museum initially was located in Maracanã neighborhood. In 1978, the Museu do Índio moved to the mansion in Botafogo where he is until today. This House, which has great historical and architectural value, was built in the 19th century by a food industry businessman, João Rodrigues Teixeira, to be used as a residence.
This is the only official institution in the country dedicated exclusively to indigenous cultures. 270 different groups of Indians today live in Brazil — about 370 thousand people, who speak 188 languages.
The Museum has a large collection dedicated to contemporary indigenous societies, consisting of 16,000 ethnographic pieces; 16,000 national and foreign publications specialized in ethnology and related areas; more than 68 thousand audiovisual documents; more than 125 thousand textual documents; In addition to films, videos and sound recordings.
Museu do Índio Is the reference for researchers interested in indigenous issues, having contributed significant advancements to the field of ethnographic museums in Brazil.