Of the various indigenous peoples in Brazil, the Tupiniquim are among the most often mentioned and, paradoxically, one of the least known. In the Portuguese currently spoken in Brazil, Tupiniquim is synonym of “national”, or “Brazilian” (it is common to see "Tupiniquim Anthropology", "Tupiniquim cinema" etc. used in the press), but the use of the terms does not help to reveal the reality of a specific people that struggles for its survival. Who are the Tupiniquim anyway?