The origin of the name comes from the Tupi words uyba (arrows or canoes) and tuba (many). Ubatuba was the place where the Portuguese signed the first treaty of peace of the Americas with the Tupinambá Indians (The Treaty of Peace of Yperoig - Tratado de Paz de Iperoig), a treaty that kept Brazil in Portuguese hands, with only one language and one faith (Catholicism). Back in the 16th century the Tupinambá families were forced into slavery, working on sugar cane plantations along the Southern Shores surrounding the towns of Saint Vincent and Itanhaém, a region also called "Morpion" at that time (according to André Thévet - "Singularités de la France Antarctique").
