Glossary

Araribóia

Araribóia is a caboclo — a spirit of indigenous character — honored within Umbanda, an Afro-Brazilian religion, under the guiding line of Ogum, an orixá (a deity in Yoruba-derived tradition).

The Wandering Indian

Umbanda oral tradition holds that Araribóia was, in life, a Comanche man born in what is now Oklahoma, known from childhood for an unusual gift: the ability to communicate with animals and read the signs of the natural world. Restless and curious, he was called "Índio Andante" — the Wandering Indian — and, as displacement and conflict reshaped his tribe's way of life, he chose to travel rather than stay, moving south through Central America and eventually into the Amazon.

Caboclo Araribóia today

According to the tradition, he died of natural causes in what is now the Brazilian state of Pará, surrounded by animals he considered friends. Umbanda devotees describe his spirit as continuing this same work today, guiding people toward a love of nature and animal life under the name Caboclo Araribóia.