Guaicurus , a nation of Brazilian Indians, in that portion of the region watered by the Paraguay between lat. 18° and 22° S. They are of medium height and strong, and their skin is of copper color. Their hair is long and straight. Formerly they tattooed their bodies. The only garment of the men was a sort of short drawers; on feast days they ornamented their heads with crowns of feathers, while in the under lips they inserted a cylindrical piece of wood about three inches long. The women are ill shaped and always painted. They accompany the men in all their excursions on horseback and in canoes, and the men aid them in cooking. Their chief occupations are spinning cotton, weaving, making utensils of earthenware, and manufacturing cords and mats. The riches of the Guaicurus consist in the number of their horses, which they mark just as they mark their women. They live mostly on venison, fish, and fruit, and hate agriculture. Their language is harmonious, though somewhat guttural. They count the years by the return of the fruit season. A few of these Indians were converted by the early missionaries, but the mass are still pagans.

The population is distinguished into the classes of the nobles, warriors, and slaves.