"FRATERNAL PROTECTION" OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND COLONIZATION IN THE NORTH OF THE RIO GRANDE DO SUL IN THE FIRST REPUBLIC

Abstract

The article deals with the policy of "fraternal protection" of indigenous people and the intrusion of land into their awnings, articulated with the colonization project implemented by the republican government in the north of Rio Grande do Sul, via the Land and Colonization Directorate. It initially analyzes the policy of fraternal protection of indigenous people, and then the delimitation of the space of indigenous awnings and the release of public land for colonization, as well as the unfolding of this policy in the daily activities of the Land and Colonization Commission. We conclude that the policy of "fraternal protection" of the positivist government, in particular of its most humanist wing, was confronted with unscrupulous public officials, who did not know the reality of the indigenous people and striked actions that produced conflicts within the public sphere in charge of the colonization processes and with the indigenous people. We also conclude that there were multiple interests around the land, a fact that resulted in the indigenous villages.

Keywords: Rio Grande do Sul. Indigenous awnings. Fraternal protection.