10 books to understand indigenous cultures on Indigenous Fight Day

77 years ago, then President Getúlio Vargas instituted the so-called Indian Day, on April 19. The date has its controversies, starting with the name itself. There are those who argue that the date should be called “Indigenous Peoples Struggle Day”breaking the stereotyped view of the indigenous figure and respecting the diversity of cultures of the original inhabitants of the Brazilian territory.

To better understand the reason for this struggle, there is nothing better than getting to know the indigenous stories, traditions and customs. Therefore, the amazon has invited the anthropologist and specialist in the subject Mercio Pereira Gomes, president of the National Indian Foundation (Funai) between 2003 and 2007, to curate books ranging from the culture of indigenous peoples to analyzes of the social formation of Brazil, as well as novels, myths and children’s books. In addition to works by authors such as Daniel Munduruku and Darcy Ribeirothe list also includes a title by Gomes himself, The Indians and Brazil🇧🇷 “The book gives an overview of indigenous cultures and the history of these peoples in relation to the formation of Brazil”, says the anthropologist.

Among the novels, one of the specialist’s recommendations is maira, written by the anthropologist Darcy Ribeiro. The title deals with “the Brazilian drama facing the indigenous tragedy with strokes of those who lived among them, where imagination meets ethnography”, according to Gomes. He also indicates the Brazilian indigenous talesby the indigenous author Daniel Munduruku, whose stories “take us to the banks of the Tapajós River, where the author’s ancestors lived and where the Munduruku people still live today, one of the bravest in Brazilian history”.

It is important to note that many of the books were published in past centuries, with the vision of people outside the tribes and, frequently, based on certain stereotypes. Therefore, the selection also includes contemporary indigenous authors.

Check out the list of anthropologist recommendations*:

The Indians and Brazil 🇧🇷Mércio Gomes)

Who is indigenous in Brazil? What is your situation in the country? What relationship does it establish with the environment? What are the differences between the people of the 16th century and those of today? How do they live, what language do they speak and where are they based? They are Brazilians? These are some of the questions answered in depth in this book.

First of all, yes, they are native and native Brazilians. And they are spread across all states of the country. Anthropologist Mércio Pereira Gomes provides an overview of who the Brazilian indigenous peoples are, what indigenous policies have been since colonization, revealing the economic interests that challenge these communities and refuting the common discourse by emphasizing the point of view of these people. Buy it here.

maira (Darcy Ribeiro)

In maira, anthropologist Darcy Ribeiro relives the emotions of the years he spent in tribes and tells the story of an indigenous man who, adopted by a priest and convinced to follow the priesthood, questions his true faith and gets into conflict for having abandoned his people. Young Avá leaves his village as a boy to live in Rome. When he returns to his tribe, accompanied by Alma from Rio de Janeiro, he experiences intense moments in the search for integration with his people. His drama, at times, arouses indignation in the reader and shows the richness of indigenous culture and its inadequacy to the values ​​of Christian society. In the work, Darcy builds an instigating and engaging narrative around the values ​​of a culture so rich, oppressed, and contradictory with the hegemonic values ​​of our society, highlighting the spiritual and material bases of a world considered “primitive” that transcends and challenges the world of the “civilized”. Buy here.

Kadiwéu: Ethnological essays on knowledge, chance and beauty (Darcy Ribeiro)

In the late 1940s, Darcy Ribeiro conducted detailed field research on the Kadiwéu ethnic group, who are concentrated in Mato Grosso do Sul. The result is in this book, composed of texts with dense descriptions of the family relationships of this indigenous group, the strategies they employ to protect their lands, the myths that make up their universe of beliefs, their shamanistic songs, the paintings done on their bodies and also in ceramics.

In Confessions, his memoirs, Ribeiro claims to have developed with the Kadiwéu much of his perspective as a scholar of the indigenous peoples. In his words, he was able to learn from them that “only a profound emotional identification can break the barriers of communication, allowing a stranger to penetrate the intimacy that reached practically the maximum that an anthropologist can aspire to in his effort to see the world with the eyes of the people who study”. Buy here.

Two trips to Brazil (Hans Staden)

Twice in the mid-16th century, German mercenary Hans Staden landed on the shores of newly discovered Brazil. The first, in 1549, passing through Pernambuco and Paraíba, and the second, in 1550, when he arrived on the then island of Santa Catarina. On the second trip he was arrested by the governor-general and then captured by Tamoio indigenous people. Young Staden lived to tell what he saw – virgin landscapes, unexplored riches and the ritual practice of cannibalism, of which he was almost a victim. The book with his account was published in 1557, in Marburg, Germany, illustrated by anonymous woodcuts (reproduced in the book) based on his descriptions. To buy.

Wild Economy 🇧🇷Caesar Gordon)

Based on a detailed ethnography of consumption among the Xikrin indigenous people, originally from Pará, the anthropologist Cesar Gordon shows us that the indigenous desire for objects that are foreign to them is not spurious, inauthentic or exotic. On the contrary, it is the expression of a properly indigenous purpose and history, with deep connections with cosmology, the ritual system and kinship. The author also reflects on an urgent topic for many indigenous populations in Brazil: the relationship with non-indigenous people, with the State and with the capitalist economy. Click here to buy.

Brazilian indigenous tales 🇧🇷Daniel Munduruku)

Reading selected stories in the book gives children a rich insight into our cultural heritage. There are eight short stories selected by the author, an anthropologist of Munduruku origin, based on linguistic criteria. They portray, through myths – the theft of fire, the origin of tobacco, after the flood, for example –, the journey of some of our indigenous peoples from the north to the south of the country. Some of the peoples portrayed are Guarani, Karajá, Munduruku and Tukano. Click here to buy.

It was grandma who said 🇧🇷Daniel Munduruku and Graça Lima)

It is part of the indigenous tradition to listen to grandparents very carefully. They are considered wise because they keep the stories of their ancestors and tell them to younger people, so that they can learn about their origins and their own role in the world. In this story, also by Daniel Munduruku, the reader meets the boy Kaxiborempô. He is responsible for taking the reader on a journey through the forest and the culture of his people. Graça Lima’s illustrations show the colors, shapes and textures of nature, the Munduruku culture and the enchanted beings of the forest. Buy it here.

The fall of the sky: words of a Yanomami shaman (David Kopenawa and Bruce Albert)

In the book, the shaman and spokesperson for the Yanomami, David Kopenawa, offers an account that includes an autobiographical testimony, a shamanic manifesto and a protest against the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Originally published in French in 2010, the book presents the shaman’s meditations on predatory contact with men foreign to the tribe, who have been a constant threat to his people since the 1960s. the fall from the sky it was written from his point of view, told to the French ethnologist Bruce Albert, with whom he nurtures a long friendship. There were more than thirty years of coexistence between the authors and forty years of contact between the ethnologist and the Yanomami people. Filled with shamanic visions and ethnographic meditations on white people, the book questions the notion of progress and development defended by what the Yanomami call the “commodity people”. Click here to buy.

indigenous amazon (Márcio Souza)

With the baggage of more than forty years of dedication to Amazonian culture, journalist Márcio Souza was responsible for bringing together all the latest research on the Amazon and the region’s indigenous people. In short, easy-to-read but information-packed chapters, indigenous amazon talks about the cultures of the Amazon, passing through the horrors of the colonial process and the successive genocides of indigenous people that occurred in the history of Brazil, reaching the current environmental problems. Great for rethinking Brazil’s relationship with its oldest inhabitants. Click here to buy.

Ouro Vermelho: The conquest of the Brazilian Indians (John Hemming)

The book marks one of the first attempts to address the history of Brazilian indigenous peoples more broadly during the centuries of colonial conquest. John Hemming’s first contact with native Brazilian peoples took place in 1961, during an expedition around the Iriri River, in Pará, when he was ambushed by men from the Kreen-Akrore tribe, hitherto unknown in the country. After this first expedition, he made trips to different regions. In this work, Hemming proposes to write the Brazilian indigenous history or the history of the conquest of Brazil from what he heard from the perspectives of the native peoples. Buy it here.

*This article may generate a type of commission for some of the commercial links disclosed. The reported values ​​and available stock refer to the time of publication of this article. CLAUDIA is not responsible for price changes.

In times of isolation, it is not so much effort to be productive: