Piauì

During its brutal process of occupation, Piauí was where a massive genocide of Indigenous tribes took place. Contrary to the rest of the Brazilian coast, the state of Piauí was first colonised inland and then gradually towards the coast. The large cattle farms grew up, hand in hand, with the conquest of the land, being the suppliers for the big sugar cane mills, engenhos, of the north and the north east.

The effect of the deep racial mixture between indigenous, whites and blacks is present in every cultural aspect. We find it in the cuisine, in the architecture, in the ‘house of floor’ inside the farms, in the folkloric dances, in the legends and popular traditions. An example is the representation of the bumba-meu-boi, a dramatic dance, born in the cattle farms, that shows the inequality exiting in the relationship between slaves and their owners.
Together with this rich cultural universe there are the natural beauties that surprise and fascinate. With only 66 km of coast, Piauí is the shortest coastline in Brazil, but, at the same time, the wildest of the North East, rich of sunny beaches, white sand dunes and fresh water lagoons.  Its biggest richness is the Parnaíba River, 1.485 km long, when it reaches the Atlantic Ocean it forms an interesting archipelago of 2.700 km.