“Por todos esses sertões em que buscava se ocupar”: Guerras e alianças entre indígenas e os luso-brasileiros nos sertões do Piauí e Maranhão na segunda metade do século XVIII

Abstract

The occupation of the backlands of the captaincies of Maranhão and Piauí, in the 18th century, occurred amid numerous conflicts with the indigenous peoples who occupied and controlled these backlands. This dispute over the territory between Indians and Portuguese intensified even more in the second half of the 18th century, with the occupation movement driven by the corrals and cattle farms in the region. This conquering movement undertaken by sertanists led to the deterritorialization of indigenous peoples and constant instability in colonial settlements, which were sometimes controlled by the Portuguese and sometimes by the indigenous people. This dispute over land produced tensions, wars, conflicts, but also negotiations, agreements and alliances between Indians and Portuguese. In this sense, this dissertation seeks to discuss the expansion and Luso-Brazilian settlement in the backlands of Maranhão and Piauí, but above all seeking to understand the different forms of resistance of indigenous peoples. Seeking to understand how they, faced with different situations and contexts caused by the invasion of their territories, reacted and implemented different survival strategies.