In 2000, a book entitled "Cartas do Sertão de Curt Nimuendajú para Carlos Estevão de Oliveira" ("Letters from the Backlands by Curt Nimuendajú to Carlos Estevão de Oliveira") was published in Portugal. The appearance of Nimuendajú's previously unpublished writings in Portuguese attests to the interest which continues to be shown in regard to this early twentieth century ethnographer and his pioneer fieldwork. By focusing on the ethnographer's letters, a literary genre which is distinct from the descriptive ethnographies for which he is better known, this article examines a new dimension of Nimuendajú's work.
Native American History; Tropical Americanism; archeology