of the establishment of the "Collectoria estadol do Mato Grosso" in 1912, many were killed and 32 remained. They were killed in compensation from an attack they made at the collector’s office. In 1916 there was evidence of some black people having been assimilated into the tribe. In 1957, two ethnologists, undertaking a study of indigenous groups in Brazil, mistakenly declared the Apiacá extinct. They posited a number of possible causes for this supposed extinction: disease epidemics, massacres stemming from resistance to colonization, warfare with neighboring native people, and assimilation into other indigenous groups. In fact, during this entire time the tribe was still very much alive, living amongst the Kaiabi and Munduruku peoples but preserving many aspects of their own distinct culture. Culture and customs The earliest records of the Apiaca people suggest that they had large plots of cultivated fields, and grew a great array of crops. Crops harvested include sweet cassava (manioc), cara, yams, peanuts, sweet potatoes, maize, beans, lima beans, pumpkins, cotton, and as of 1848, watermelons. Planting and harvesting were typically communal activities, although typically performed by women. Although early sources do not make mention of any domestic animals, by the mid-19th century the Apiaca came to have pigs, dogs, chickens, ducks, and several other birds. They hunted peccaries, tapirs, and capybaras, and used baskets set at the bottom of weirs across the mouths of streams in order to catch fish. Apiaca settlements were formerly beside the river and typically consisted of a single, large house surrounded by a clearing. The huts were rectangular and covered with thatched roofs, and the walls were made of bark or palm. Inside the homes, cotton hammocks, made of either coarse fabric or net, were hung along the walls. Large bark canoes provided transportation across the waterways. Baskets, trays, sieves, and supports for various vessels were woven with strips of creeper, and ceramic pots, pans, and dishes were manufactured. Musical instruments were a part of their culture as well, as they had drums, rattles, and bamboo trumpets. Weapons and ornaments were the only forms of private property. Iron tools obtained from Europeans were of great value, although the Apiaca occasionally stole them from the Europeans. Each Apiaca communal hut constituted a settlement and had at least one chief. The title of chief was passed from father to son or, in the absence of an heir apparent, to the nearest