Abstract:
The article reflects on the indigenous political action in Ceará before the Diretório dos Índios, the eighteenth century law that was still in force in the captaincy and province in the nineteenth century. It analyzes how the communities operationalized the law or fought for its suppression through written argumentation and tricks in the legal and administrative proceedings, and how their actions also influenced the indigenist positions of the governments of Portugal, Brazil and Ceará. In their documentary production, they draw attention to their reading of their past and, from it, the intentions of autonomy in their spaces, including to manage their own productive and commercial activities. Important aspects in this investigation are both the Indians perspective on the normative framework, about their work and themselves in Portuguese colonial society - as capable vassals and worthy of the sovereign’s attention - and the legal actions brought by them.
Keywords:
Indians; Legislation; Political culture