Rethinking Amerindian Resistance and Persistence in Colonial Portuguese America

Abstract

At some point in the 1780s, during his Philosophical Journey through Amazonia, Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira spent some time in Monte Alegre and Santarém, two Indian towns on the lower Amazon noted for their ceramics production. His account of the ceramic bowls (cuias) made by the Indian women remains especially interesting for its detailed description of production techniques and volume. These villages produced five to six thousand cuias annually, earning 100 to 120 réis for each, "depending on the size, the color, the quality, or if it is smooth or in sections". Europeans purchased most of the production: "the Indian women who know that the whites will buy them, make sure to perfect them". But Ferreira seemed particularly interested in one important detail: the Indian women reserved part of their production for their own use, with not only material but also symbolic implications: The cuias are the Indians' plates, cups, and all of their tableware. Each of them reserves one for the Principal [headman] from which to drink water or wine when he visits ... The bowl is distinguished by a shell ornament, attached by a ball of wax covered with beads, and a muiraquitã [a sacred green stone in the form of an animal] on top, which serves as a handle for the Principal.

Cerámica y lítica como indicadores de cambio y persistencia tecnológicos durante el período de contacto en el poniente de la Cuenca de México

“…Si bien la nueva tecnología es consecuencia de una imposición violenta como la conquista, también puede representar una decisión. Hay ejemplos en otras regiones y en otros aspectos de la vida sobre la "resistencia" cultural de los grupos dominados (Monteiro, 2008;Panich, 2013;Silliman, 2009;Scaramelli, 2005). Es importante cuestionarnos qué innovaciones resultan bien recibidas, cuáles son rechazadas, y ponderar el contexto histórico cultural para poder afirmar con mayor contundencia el proceso de apropiación y persistencia cultural en grupos colonizados.…”

On De-Pathologizing Resistance

“…This process of placing resistance at a convenient distance (in physical or social space) remind us of how colonial powers essentialized indigenous ethnic groups (and their resistance)-freezing them in time as naturalized unchanging categories (see Monteiro 2012); a distortion propagated, with less sinister intentions, by old fashioned anthropology (Fabian 1983). In a similarly exoticizing manner, "Occupy London", Taksim Square, or Plaza del Sol become undifferentiated moments, muted and frozen, tribalized, but firmly placed (as exotic liminal exceptions) within an established framework of power imbalances.…”