Abstract
The beginnings of systematic ethnography in Brazil can be attributed to the German physician and psychiatrist Karl von den Steinen, who in 1884 led the first expedition to the Amazonian River Xingu. The ethnographies Durch Central-Brasilien (1886) and its sequel Unter den Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasiliens (1894), about the expedition from 1887 to 1888, made him the world's leading expert on Brazilian indigenous peoples. This article seeks to explore von den Steinen's expeditions and their results within a specific political and cultural context. On the one hand, his theoretical approach was related to German ethnology and anthropology. On the other, the expeditions took place in the context of the indigenous policy of the Brazilian Empire. The Brazilian government provided material aid and military staff, because it had interests in the researches, although these interests at times were conflictive. This article's objective is to contribute to a historical analysis of the political conditions of ethnography.
Keywords
Brazilian Empire; ethnography; German ethnology; indigenous peoples; Karl von den Steinen
