Indigenous societies and their borders in the south-east region of the Guianas

• Grant number: 95/00602-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Start date: December 01, 1995
• End date: April 30, 2003
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology - Indigenous Ethnology
• Principal Investigator: Dominique Tilkin Gallois
• Grantee: Dominique Tilkin Gallois
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This thematic research project integrates and guides the ethnological and ethno-linguistic research of a team of 20 participants, interested in deepening and disseminating knowledge of the inter-ethnic contact processes underway in the indigenous areas of the Amapá and the north of the Pará, as well as in French Guiana and Suriname. Beyond a frontier area in the traditional sense (geopolitical, historic, economic and ethnic), the south-east region of the Guianas represents an ideological frontier, a stage for inter-cultural encounters of diverse natures, through which are manifested both the ethnic differences between the indigenous peoples and between these and the regional populations, as well as differentiated orientation of the national policies which impact on these populations. The central objective of this thematic project is the investigation of the situations of contact/encounter/confrontation/assimilation in that region, through the study of specific experiences, which will be tackled from a comparative perspective. It aims to contribute to the renovation of the studies of inter-ethnic contact, classic in Brazilian ethnology, supporting the investigations in the operational concept of frontier, which allows for the analysis of internal and external factors, relevant for the analysis of the relations between indigenous peoples and national societies. The project team established a program of activities to be developed over 4 years, the time needed for the development of field research, as well as for discussion, thematization and dissemination of the results, via the Nucleus of Indigenous History and Indigenism of USP. On the other hand, this thematic project is committed to carrying out systematic training in the area of Ethnology, integrating undergraduates, responsible for conducting research at the scientific initiation level. (AU)