Abambaé and tupambaé: indigenous labor and output in the Jesuit mission of Guairá (1609-1632).

• Grant number: 24/10935-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of America
• Principal Investigator: José Carlos Vilardaga
• Grantee: Leandro de Aragão Ferraz
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The time frame analyzed in this research corresponds to a period of introduction, instability and attempts at consolidation for the Jesuit reductions of Guairá. This period took place between the beginning of missionary expansion of the Society of Jesus in Paraguai (1609) and the destruction of the mission of Guairá by bandeirantes from São Paulo (1632). Many elements would be obstacles for the establishment of the missions, such as conflict with the Spanish encomenderos and the aforementioned bandeirantes, resistance from indigenous groups and leaders, and the distance from the college of Assunção. This research aims to examine the organization of production and indigenous labor in these missions during this initial phase of Jesuit occupation. Specifically, it aims to investigate: the adaptations inside the reductions of elements present in indigenous economic culture; observe the possible circulation of products between reductions, as well as between them and other locations; and analyze the possible transformation of agricultural practices by the conditions that arose from the establishment of the reductions. Guided by premises of the New Indigenous History and the approach it promotes between historiography and fields such as ethnology and anthropology, we aim to read documentation originated from the first phase of Jesuit missions in the Río de la Plata region. The reading and the interpretation of these documents are assisted by a bibliographical body that helps to understand the specificities of Jesuit writing, main source of the documents being analyzed.