O aldeamento dos índios de itambacuri e a política indigenista na província de Minas Gerais (1873-1889)

Abstract

Seeking to contribute to the historiography about the history of the Indians in Brazil, especially in reference to social, political and cultural in the settlements, this dissertation proposes the understanding of indigenous policy that was in force in the province of Minas Gerais between 1873 and 1889. We chose as object of analysis the Indians' Village of Itambacuri, founded in 1873 in the north of Minas Gerais by Italian missionaries of the order of the Capuchins. The choice of this village was motivated by its longer duration in comparison to other settlements created at the same period and by its importance its centrality to the understanding of provincial Indian policy and imperial. To problematize the social organization and daily life from village of Itambacuri, we sought to recognize the negotiations and disputes that marked the interethnic relations between the different subjects who experienced that experience, from the directors priests, Indians from different ethnic groups and adjacent populations to Itambacuri. The local and provincial elites are included in this scenario. They sought their control over the lands of the valley of the Mucuri, beyond their control over the indigenous labor of those "hinterlands". It’s important to notice that the provincial experience of indigenous policy practiced in Minas was designed in line with the guidelines proposals from the court. So, this dissertation also goes towards understanding the imperial political scenario, the debate on the indigenous issue before and after the promulgation of the Regulation about the catechetical mission and indians civilization in 1845. Thus, the analysis of parliamentary debates in the Senate before to the promulgation of an indigenous policy for Indians’ catechesis and Indians’ "civilization" from the Empire provinces shows nebulosity that hung over this complex question. By analyzing these debates we put in evidence a field very little explored by historiography to think about, for example, the different integration proposals of Indians into the nineteenth century society. Therefore, this study sought to reconcile the similarities and differences of a national indigenous policy which should be applied in all provinces with the adaptations suffered by this one when it was introduced in Minas Gerais. Beyond the political debate, we sought to demonstrate the paths of different indigenous peoples who lived in different ways the new and old relations brought and maintained by the new indigenous Regulation.