Selvagens e indolentes : os índios nos relatórios e ofícios da direção geral dos índios em Alagoas (1845 a 1872)

Abstract

This monography is based on the analysis of a set of historical-documentary sources described in the book by Clóvis Antunes, entitled “Índios de Alagoas: Documentário”, published in 1984 by Editora da Universidade Federal de Alagoas (EDUFAL). Clóvis Antunes is a retired professor at the Institute of Social Sciences at UFAL and a researcher in the field of Indigenous Ethnology in Alagoas. In this book, the author presents a series of “Reports and Officials of the Partial Directories of Indians and of the General Directorate of Indians”, between 1845 to 1872. In these reports, the situation of indigenous groups in Alagoas from view of the public agents responsible for indigenous policies in the then Province of Alagoas. My intention in this monography is to select, read and comment on these reports trying to reconstruct the social representations of the indigenous populations in Alagoas at that time. As you can see, in this monography, the social representations of the past can explain well how these populations are seen today by the Brazilian state and help us to understand why these groups are, in the present, in a situation of social vulnerability, deprived of their fundamental rights