The first people to live in Sergipe were from the Tupi Tribe . The name `` Sergipe '' is the Tupi word for crab . SÃ # o CristÃ vÃ # o was the site of the first settlement by the Portuguese , in 1591 at Sergipe D'El-Rey , what is today Sergipe ( the name Sergipe is actually a Tupi word , meaning river of `` crab '' ) , becoming the state 's capital .