Os índios do médio Solimões e Japurá na fronteira na Amazônia do século XVIII

Abstract

The Amazon region was the stage of a dispute between Portugal and Spain for the domination of the territory and the indigenous population, as a means of subordination and control of the border areas. The colonial agents used the Indians for the effective occupation of this region, which included the Solimões and Japurá rivers (currently the Brazil-Colombia border region). These rivers were essential routes for the Portuguese constructions. This work is a collaboration to the historical and anthropological knowledge of indigenous peoples, observed from a colonial perspective, described through social networks and metropolitan laws. Examined in documents: maps, iconographies, letters and letters from the 18th century (1750-1780), backed up by bibliographic support. Through the research, it was analyzed that the Lusitanian domination subjugated the native population to the role of vassals of the crown. This process of subordination of the Indians resulted in the destribalization and homogenization of some existing ethnic groups at that time through the action of missionaries and metropolitan rulers who adopted a domination policy in the region of Grão-Pará and Maranhão that present consequences until today diagnosed as: the policy of exclusion of the Indians and exploitation of natural resources.