The aim of the present article is to discuss some aspects of the ambiguities of the indigenous legislation from the colony period to the second half of the century XIX in Brazil. Ultimately, those ambiguities revealed the established tensions between the local powers and the Portuguese metropolis since the laws sent by the Portuguese crown in favor of the freedom of the Indians were not executed in practice, persisting the indigenous captivity until his formal abolition in 1831. However, even after the abolition, the legal defense of the indigenous rights would be a constant theme of intellectuals and politicians during the second half of the century XIX, since the absence of that defense disabled the integration of the Indians to the State-nation.
Indigenous legislation in Brazil; indigenous slavery; Brazil Colony (1500-1822); Brazil Empire (1822-1889); political and social thought in Brazil