As Diretorias dos índios e os postos militares no Rio Negro Imperial (1850 -1889). Tefé/AM

Abstract

This work reflects on the daily relationships established between indigenous populations and authorities responsible for implementing the imperial indigenous policy in Rio Negro through the directory of Indians of 1845 and complementary legislation. Such relationships emerge in a context of conflicts, disputes and negotiations established between the indigenous policy organized and applied by the Empire and its local agents and the indigenous policy carried out by the multiple indigenous ethnicities of the Rio Negro. The analysis based on the legislation and administrative practices established for the “control” of these populations in the imperial period allowed a differentiated look at the indigenous history and indigenism in the second half of the 19th century within the scope of the Indigenous Directorates in Rio Negro. I seek to understand this policy and their correlations as a privileged place for understanding possible dialogues and conflicts between Indians and non-Indians. In this sense, the active participation of the Indians defined new directions for indigenous history in the Rio Negro. In this context, the policy of the Brazilian State, designed and exercised over the Indians, using the legal apparatus of indigenous legislation, was modified by the policy practiced by the Indians, requiring adaptation to the local reality, and was only implemented with the participation of the Indians, who acted and reacted in different ways, sometimes in agreements, sometimes in protest against imperial policy, showing active participation and indigenous protagonism in this process of building their own history. From this perspective of analysis, it is understood that indigenous history arises from conflicts, uprisings, revolts, wars, among others, but also from agreements and alliances between whites and Indians, often necessary for survival in this part of the Empire, which was extremely rebellious. .