This work presents a study on Indigenous Bilingualism, considering the languages in use, in
the Apinayé and Krahô social domains, indigenous peoples who live in the north of the state
of Tocantins, speakers of the homonymous language belonging to the Macro Jê trunk and the
Jê Linguistic Family. The Apinayé population is 3,009 people spread over 53 villages, and the
Krahô population is 3,848 people spread over 55 villages (DSEI, 2022). The objective was to
identify and analyze the types and dimensions of bilingualism in the Apinayé, village São
José, and Krahô, Manoel Alves Pequeno communities, based on ethnographic, sociolinguistic
and ethnosociolinguistic studies. The research is qualitative and is based on studies by
Günther (2006) and Vasconcelos (2009). It is a participatory, collaborative and critical
ethnography based on the theories of Ezpeleta and Rockwell (1989), Erickson (1984) and
Tomas (1993). Data were collected at the Laboratory of Indigenous Languages (LALI/UFNT)
from studies carried out by Severina Alves de Almeida carried out in the Apinayé São José
village: Ethnossociolinguistics and Literacy: Contributions to an Apinayé Indigenous
Bilingual and Intercultural Curriculum (2015), and in the Krahô by researchers Marta Virginia
de Araújo Batista Abreu (2012) who studied the Sociolinguistic Situation of the Krahô and
Marcilene de Assis Alves Araújo (2015) who carried out a very important study on the
Interaction Events in Krahô (Jê) Rituals, identifying their Contributions to Bilingual
Education in Manoel Alves Pequeno Village. The theoretical front is broad and includes
categories such as; Indigenous Education; Bilingual and Intercultural Indigenous Education;
Bilingualism; Indigenous Bilingualism; Indigenous Peoples of Brazil and Tocantins;
Ethnolinguistics; Sociolinguistics; Ethnography of Communication; Literacy, Language
Contact; Indigenous Languages of Brazil; Linguistic and Ethnic Identity, among others. The
theoretical foundation is anchored in the classic works of Malinowski (1978); Nimuendaju
(1983); Da Matta (1975); Maher (2007); Rodrigues (1988, 2002, 2013), Erickson (1984;
1988), Ezpeleta & Rockwell (1989), Thomas (1993). In addition to these, we resort to more
current publications, for example, André (2004), Bortoni-Ricardo, (2005); Sousa (2006),
Macedo (2006), Beaud & Weber (2007), Vasconcelos (2009), Van Dijk (2001; 2012), Street
(2007, 2014), Harmers and Blanc (2000), Rojo (2009), Albuquerque (2007), Almeida (2015),
among other authors. The results were analyzed in the light of Ethnossociolinguistics and its
epistemological framework, when we identified five dimensions of bilingualism: by relative
competence; acquisition age; presence or not of L2-speaking individuals in the environment
in question and the status of the two languages, called dominant, child, adolescent and adult,
endogenous, subtractive, bicultural and intercultural bilingualism. In other words, the
bilingualism of the Apinayé indigenous communities of the São José and Krahô villages of
Manoel Alves Pequeno is Individual and Social and is characterized by its
multidimensionality, it is also a consecutive child bilingualism. In this sense, the research
contributes to the linguistic studies related to Bilingualism in indigenous societies, generating
visibility for the more than 300 peoples who live in Brazil.
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