Objective:
To analyze the causes of mortality and its trends among the Guarani from the South and Southeast of Brazil over a 15-year period (2000-2015).

Method:
This is a descriptive study based on data on deaths that occurred among the Guarani from the South and Southeast of Brazil during the years 2000 and 2015 and notified to the Subsystem for Health Care of Indigenous Peoples. For this purpose, the frequencies of deaths were analyzed according to DSEI of residence, age groups, gender and causes of death. Trends in mortality rates were analyzed using health indicators calculated for the years included in the analysis period.

Results:
560 deaths were reported, with an increase in the number of deaths reported each year. Annual standardized general mortality rates varied around 5 deaths/1000 inhabitants (1.8/1000 to 4.7/1000), being higher in the DSEI Litoral Sul (DSEI LS: 3.8/1000; DSEI IS: 2.7/1000). Most deaths occurred in the first years of life. Respiratory diseases and infectious and parasitic diseases were the main defined causes of mortality, especially in children under 5 years of age. The IMR showed higher values for the DSEI Litoral Sul, reaching 48.8/1000 live births, higher in the post-neonatal period. There was an upward trend in the IMR, ranging from 10.3/1000 live births to 72.7/1000 live births. The need for improvements in primary health care directed to indigenous peoples is evident, the strengthening of the Indigenous Health Care Subsystem and the increase in health promotion actions, in order to prevent avoidable deaths in the population, particularly in the child population, and contribute to to overcome ethnic-racial inequalities in mortality in the country.