Uncertain Refuge: Frontier Formation and the Origins of the Botocudo War in Late Colonial Brazil

Abstract

The major gold and diamond strikes of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries produced an unprecedented economic expansion, a complex urban society, and a rich Baroque culture in the inland region of southeastern Brazil that came to be called Minas Gerais. The mining windfall transformed Portuguese America and the transatlantic commerce that linked it to Europe and Africa. By the time the Portuguese crown fully acknowledged these changes and transferred the colonial capital from Salvador da Bahia to Rio de Janeiro in 1763, however, the inevitable depletion of the mineral washings was well underway. The accompanying economic havoc, first felt on a large scale around the middle of the eighteenth century and intensifying as the decades passed, resulted in severe social dislocation and political discontent.1 Long after the search for gold purportedly ended and the concerns of colonists turned elsewhere, the inhabitants of the captaincy of Minas Gerais continued to scour outlying lands for new mineral deposits and, when these failed to materialize, for pastoral, agricultural, and commercial alternatives.Between the 1760s and 1820s, local elites, slaves, impoverished settlers, and seminomadic indigenous peoples engaged in a violent contest for land and resources, radiating outward from the mining district’s major towns. Throughout the vast hinterlands of Minas Gerais, this conflict sometimes smoldered, sometimes flared, accompanying the primary instance of frontier migration during Brazil’s transition from colony to nation; yet, both this conflict and the migration itself have gone virtually unstudied, subject to the long-standing scholarly tendency to emphasize Brazil’s coastal populations and export matrices. A slow-moving, often inconspicuous dispersion to the west, to the south, and, especially for the purposes of the present article, to the east, this internal colonization depended on the actions of both the powerful and the poor, the white and the nonwhite, the free and the enslaved, each with their own reasons for journeying to the frontier, each with their own claims on unsettled land, each seen as invaders by the indigenous groups who occupied this domain.Although present in virtually every zone in which settlement occurred, indigenous resistance would peak in the rugged, mountainous zone, then still blanketed by the great Atlantic forest, wedged between the inland mining district and the Atlantic coast (see figure 1). Forging a local policy of frontier incorporation, captaincy officials, despite a profound ambivalence concerning their own actions, challenged a crown policy that designated this area, along with other frontier zones, as “forbidden lands”—territory placed off-limits to settlers in an attempt to block the flow of contraband to coastal dwellers and seafarers. In the process, events on this remote colonial frontier impinged on metropolitan authority, eroded established territorial boundaries, undermined crown indigenous policy, and recast regional identity.Penetration of the region and aggression against its native occupants took what appeared to be a dramatic turn in 1808. Following the arrival in Rio de Janeiro of the Portuguese royal court, in flight from Napoleon’s armies, Prince Regent João declared open war on the Botocudo Indians, officially sanctioning their slaughter and enslavement, a policy that remained in place until 1831. Archival evidence reveals, however, that the militarization of this conflict began a full half-century earlier. Despite royal prohibitions, virtually every governor of Minas Gerais, from the 1760s on, pursued a policy of violent Indian conquest at one time or the and the of the the conflict the crown declared war a of the of this from a the of between the and the of the of the in a of conflict by and the Indian that local called the and of the on the the and local indigenous policy be as well as the of and regional that to a crown policy for Brazil’s as the for the conquest of this in a and in which concerning the of Indian for and to crown policy to be conquest the policy that by colonists in the region to be as indigenous itself to be the transformed from a a frontier, from a the of gold and diamond a an or and to who to the conquest it and with the of the frontier present as early as the 1760s and that of the frontier as a the the of the eighteenth the one of the frontier that on the of and America and the Atlantic The of this zone the of as or by frontier colonization to the of a to the of the indigenous a have the zone as a frontier at The and of settlement of this and other have to the of the as a of the frontier to their as a gone as to that a until the when the The with from a to territorial as a that both and frontier to when colonists their to from the of the A and as the of as of and between the of remote was to the frontier this in in and and and a of The frontier was a remote place in that was it failed to the of Minas Gerais felt the of frontier well the region economic and an export or a from the that the frontier that economic and political and the of in this a that the subject of internal colonization to that of Brazil’s export and the that the frontier when and, inland The evidence the of internal colonization that between export and as one of and it the of native peoples in the of an in which in other of the from of the of Minas Gerais the as a for the of the who the gold of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries colonial The gold which depended on the of and which the of in virtually of indigenous By the of the eighteenth as one a for this scholarly gold of the and the great of the indigenous of Minas with scholarly for on the of the gold the export the internal urban the of the as the and the of from what Minas Gerais in the eighteenth century and inhabitants of colonial Minas Gerais especially who outward from the urban mining as the the gold their great that in in the to in of the the region that would to be as the the a to settlement well the and of the mining along its with the of and Rio de the and to the of the eighteenth century with a of resistance and however, especially in the that continued to the territorial of colonial in The the of this and Minas Gerais from the Atlantic from the to the of the and the of the from to south, the and the Minas Gerais from coastal Bahia and of the and for the of these a vast of mountainous from the to the and the or as called after the middle of the eighteenth settlement and for new gold and diamond Portuguese the Botocudo to a of groups in to be of the inland who for centuries coastal in and from the Portuguese in the groups the or one of its the Portuguese groups the and as Botocudo at this scholarly the Botocudo a it still colonial be from its it from or the Portuguese for that the that of these in their and In when colonists the to one of the indigenous groups of the who to to Portuguese The primary when colonists to on a as for of the Portuguese of other indigenous in da the crown for in the to Indians, that the Botocudo the in to The in other was with of this of the Botocudo in the from a of the of the by which time the of the and their from the of as their seminomadic and their for their and their with Botocudo and and the of their resistance to which took the of and flight The to however, from a still to an of to and social indigenous the the Botocudo and their occupants of the to other and of when turned on as depended on to the in to the of the Indians, in the of to who in or often captaincy on still on the of the mining district as one of who evidence to an of of of a of and the of between colonial and indigenous society, as the of was the in the along the The to the in to who in in the The of these was to by the as and to a of for in the and for their and as well as however, colonial that from of the groups that took at engaged in to that each its own to the a be the be called in against of the Botocudo from the great of Minas settlers on the new lands and of that would their or for their that these lands would the captaincy to its and to Botocudo settlers both rich and by the gold lands by the Botocudo and other violent and, the declared in of the however, the war against the Botocudo in Minas Gerais in began with the of da the it the rugged, the mining of Minas Gerais from the Atlantic settlement and Indians, especially the and remained the of the eighteenth was in a of crown after the first of mineral in the the crown the The was to the of gold and to the coast by to crown in and other between the captaincy and the coast to by the first to and the of the the to Rio de and the to Bahia and the of these to the at other by of the the captaincy of from the Atlantic of the of the the of the the of and the of of settlers to in one the of to the at the turn of the eighteenth the of the crown to the flow of gold of the its royal on gold and and that as the of gold which of the captaincy would the of other by colonists failed to mineral the of settlement took in the of the gold the crown turned to a policy of to these unsettled in to and and to the flow of The unsettled that the mining district came to be as the “forbidden a by in to the and southeastern of the the to Rio de Janeiro and and from settlers to open new lands on in the of a crown on it was to the and mountainous by the between the on and on the one and the and resistance of Indians, on the was of the da and designated “forbidden lands in with the that the as a that this captaincy against of this to of with the of colonial that the region was the first to be off-limits after the gold In as of the of gold of a the with the coast was and on crown one of the a to the a from to of between the coast and the have as the to and from the as it the of the which was that one to the would the of the crown what it by the flow of gold from Minas Gerais to the the governor of was in to the of or in the was until a full century that the crown and the of a of the to the a the from to the of Indian the of the to the of the A royal of in the of new to the from the east, as who the or along their as contraband and the royal and to an of a as vast as the was to colonial what to the In for Minas de of the of gold at of The gold by and a of who a and the to the a of gold to in and of for established to in of the and to the coastal settlement of a by their as a of and these to be for to the with one that in when de that one of regional a of to and a to the occupied by in a mountainous region between the and in the the and and the district da In of a of and at the established of da the their by an of settlers to an until both by these and the to outlying zones, off-limits by after a by Indians, in search of great of open to be in mineral The governor local and for sanctioning the and a for with to be to the of that which the governor as a Minas Gerais from Rio de Janeiro and the who in be a and this the of the mining district’s and settlement with the of colonial to the of lands occupied by colonists and, indigenous peoples and remained the east, settlement the between the of Rio de Janeiro and Salvador was to a along the as a of the Indian The crown to turn the zone between the coast and the inland mining district a of by native the of centuries of conflict with coastal settlers, would to and from the and the of local to in a The against was the itself and its concerns in the region would colonial remained that their by and large to contraband along that the the of gold that the of the their and the who the of in of the region of the of this and the the time as Indian a of the and their and this unsettled was and of its resources, of its native or a of the The and of colonists in evidence on these as their to a that remained their each each in and new that to a to the royal that the with in the first in the to the of from the gold a by the the as virtually by the indigenous groups in The zone the coastal of and Rio de Janeiro from the region that would the mining zone that came to be in Minas Gerais as the the of the from to the and the of the for indigenous the and of and the and of Rio de A by with and the of indigenous The by the the Portuguese would to the of the to that the of this on despite prohibitions, in the by in other of the between time and the century from a from the by which time the major of the gold and the deposits at this early of the economic that would their on the of the from a and the of and the the of appeared along the one of of the however, the of the to settlement the well it would present after the was the on a an in the to the and of a which the to which would turn in Indian these of large of the remained and on an the in the of the of the region well that it be by to the its on the of of the captaincy in however, the between the mining district and the coast Indian the turned to this zone, the and of an and in the middle of a a by the the Botocudo as who to the settlement of the and da the of Minas Gerais to that a of settlement in the southeastern and of the for the on a along the to Rio de Indian remained the primary in the unsettled from and appeared on the of In the of the of groups of to the of native one of as the place of the who other the of the of the to in the forest, and with in the of the of Rio a and a at a in the who was by the of of the to A of a Indian in a at the of the forest, the of the of one the to an in the a of with the a with of the the of a of an to the of as both and of that the as a the as a with the Indian still after the turn of the A that the Minas Gerais from and to the of in the region against and to the from settlers to the in which the as a to The the of subject to the of of the a Botocudo in which of Botocudo and as well as occupied by the and and in which the of and both as occupied lands to Portuguese to the of the in remote as with settlers late as the as a which the Botocudo of this was a by the and by who in remote the and from Rio de Janeiro Minas Gerais, to the the of the of these that political between Minas Gerais and and was the In that the captaincy of Minas Gerais and that of other the da a along the other established these by of to the between Minas Gerais and in and by royal in failed to what would a that remained in until the Throughout this the region its between and was The between the of a on to one colonial from both to a of colonial and to the of the The was a by the often The was of of the with the and colonization at until the early the internal between especially with the in established at a time when these lands and by Indians, as of still it was the lands between Minas Gerais and the to the that an as one in place of a the crown and, when it captaincy of of In the political which the established mining from Indian and Indian from the and both regional and in with as as the Portuguese colonization of Brazil The between and between and in by the and the the and the this from and then the to the of frontier and conquest on the of the mining The a the that to its settlement and to the concerns and that its as a The region came to the conflict between the colonial and the indigenous on its settlement the of the policy of the the by in to the of this of and against as the colonial with to in to the in was or a of or captaincy to a crown with in the as in frontier and especially turned to be to and The from Indian and the on Indian in the for its own was both the and the that its on the one the of the Indian and, on the the of the land the Portuguese in a the of a to society, the the who would be as or the of the the with the of the would be seen as a of as and as or the to the to from the to a local the who occupied the and who in and the capital of the and the of that it was these that to purposes a at the Indian the came to the as a to when of the to their The the to of the the in the of A policy to a to and an for of the on the and it undermined was the the region of of a place of as of the region remained and and as colonists the and that the conquest of the from the on the still and the mining district from the came to the region in to the of the both and by its indigenous The of with what the Portuguese to as by in their this would the for of a the in the of with still to be The would be as and with the of settlement and and as a place by the as or or as a place by a of the of the Botocudo and the of the in the of of the gold and from Minas Gerais. to be The of this mineral agricultural, by who the in their of the continued that the of the of the of the Indians, for the of the and the the of the came their time to in their own in that the of was to the that the Portuguese from the called on the crown to a new of the a new of to the in search of would be in of the the of new by of and to by the The would be the Portuguese of the and the in of an of unprecedented in Minas in the mining district to which the of what by time was a policy of the the who the as in the to contraband as the of new of be to the of the of the gold The of the it for settlers or captaincy to by the territorial established by the to the by of by economic the turn of the a the of both the and to gold and diamond to of as a for The that the the of the was to the that by of territorial expansion, that Indian resistance for to the and that with the coastal and the Atlantic the to the captaincy to its A of Indians, an of and a of economic in the of to the by on lands still by the governor in and the the captaincy de the of crown on the along the remained by the of which be and for with to of of their to the of and that to in society, be and with until subject the of to their to a of policy the during the to the a between these for conquest and the events that The crown policy of the as a to contraband continued in until the early yet, the conquest of the began in the The local from to the of of impoverished and by an policy of the to and in the every of the settlers, and Indians, was by the inevitable in these colonial ambivalence and the native lands of the resulted in a of at a as and as the in the of the however, these a the and policy of captaincy a of indigenous and its seminomadic occupants be from one to the in the to that crown on in the region their continued in to the of between the Portuguese and Indians, and violent an to came to the the and the of to and the be by the that the of the for the to a who to search for gold and in the and however, for the (see 1). A in with its in and to be with the by in the seventeenth the in Minas Gerais during the of the eighteenth century to be of in of and A frontier with its in the that in the of the and after their to the Minas of frontier by be and by or sometimes and to search for new of to native to to to and slaves, and for of these the of what was by then a the by and settlers, and its for The virtually every until the of the eighteenth century and then the In the in settlers and then called on the to with subject to Indian By of the to with the in of to the region as an of large the of with the of a in the of the to the as the at which between the and the Indians, when and the of the authority, the by the of the from the and to from the of the of the crown with and to and often to the of indigenous the crown this in Brazil the and at in Minas and captaincy however, and the war against the officially in to the of and to the in Minas Gerais, as well as to other groups in and an of it the royal and of a policy that a in Minas the of the captaincy in crown indigenous policy a of to their In the 1760s da these and as of what called to the The indigenous policy in at the time during the in with a royal in the of Portuguese to of the native peoples of the their of a of in in the the of the between and and to the to of in the of royal and social in their for or a the of which to the Indians, in of their and The at on what the crown

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