On the Brazilian coast and in the Amazon, pajés played a role in the resolution of problems from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, although curing diseases was only one of their functions. Colonial laws were designed to ensure the legitimacy of the conquest, and right from their earliest long-term contacts with the natives, missionaries and settlers saw the pajés as major roadblocks to proposed changes. Therefore, from the times of the colony through the empire and the republic, ecclesiastic and lay leaders worked together to bring about the physical and moral downfall of the pajés. The ethnic and linguistic changes that wiped out hundreds of languages have always hampered efforts to characterize the figure of the pajé in clear terms. With European specialists making their influence felt, pajés have been confused with Asian shamans. But the pajé has reconstructed himself and survived. Despite the violent transformations caused by Salesian missionaries in the upper Negro River area, pajés there continue exercising their powers even today.
pajé; shaman; Amazon
