The Guarani Farm: indigenous narratives about removal, reclusion and escapes during the military dictatorship in Brazil

Fazenda Guarani: narrativas indígenas sobre remoção, reclusão e fugas no período da ditadura militar no Brasil

Abstract

This article presents some of the results of a critical exercise concerning the multiple uses of the past, considering the relations between indigenous peoples, state power structures and sectors of regional society. It reveals how the complex interplay between the construction of a regional mythography and the notion of “demographic voids” (Moreira, 2000) was created at the expense of the forced removal and reclusion of Guarani and Tupinikim groups and the expropriation of their lands in Espírito Santo state, Brazil. The study focuses on the indigenous versions of historical situations, the multiple forms of relationship between the state and indigenous peoples and the conditions of production of ethnographic data (Oliveira Filho, 1999:9).

Keywords:
Military Dictatorship; Indigenous Lands; Guarani Farm; Guarani and Tupinikim Narratives