The Muras are an indigenous people who live in the central and eastern parts of Amazonas, Brazil, along the Amazon river from the Madeira to the Purus.

[1] They played an important part in Brazilian history during colonial times and were known for their quiet determination and subsequent resistance to the encroaching Portuguese culture.

The Brazilian army responded with a campaign of enslavement, repression, and massacres against the Mura which eventually ended the conflict.

Though in 1917 the Amazonas State Government allowed them to have small plots of land in the municipalities of Manicoré, Careiro, Itacoatiara and Borba.

In 1987 the Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas (FNDPI) turned its attention towards the Mura and their conflict with the oil company Petrobras.

The ensuing legal battle led to some minor concession to the Mura but more importantly gave them a sense of unity.

[3] The Mura people are overwhelmingly Christian with 87% being Catholic and 10% being Evangelical though the remaining 3% follows their indigenous animist religion.

The Shamans of Mura paganism are both feared and respected with more wealth than the rest of society and are believed to have magical powers.

In an unusual arrangement, the Mura people have an "indigenous special use zone" in the state park that allows them to continue to fish and extract forest products, as they have for many generations.