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Beholding the Miracle: Xavante Indians and Economic “Development” under Brazilian Military Rule*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Seth Garfield*
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

Extract

In 1978, the Brazilian military government launched a “community development project” for the Xavante Indians of Mato Grosso (“Projeto Xavante”) to promote mechanized rice production and livestock rearing, and to institute educational and health programs. As the project sought to foster indigenous self-sufficiency, the government Indian bureau, Fundaçaão Nacional do Índio (FUNAI) would deploy a team of technicians, agronomists, educators, and health care officials to train Xavante as agriculturists, machine operators, health care attendants, and bilingual teaching monitors. Under the administration of General Ismarth Araújo de Oliveira, FUNAI initially earmarked CR$8,635,207 for the Xavante Project and established a special coordinating unit in Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso, the Ajudância Autônoma de Barra do Garças (AJABAG).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 2001

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Footnotes

*

This essay is dedicated to the memory of Aracy Lopes da Silva, a wonderful anthropologist and humanist who will be greatly missed by both Xavante and non-Xavante alike. I would like to thank David Sweet and Laura Graham for their helpful suggestions in revising the manuscript. For the first-hand observations on the Xavante Project and the relevant documentation that they generously shared with me, I would like to thank FUNAI officials Luiz Otavio Pinheiro da Cunha, Odenir Pinto de Oliveira, and Claudio Romero.

References

1 FUNAI, Assessoria de Planejamento e Coordenação, “Programa de Desenvolvimento para a Nação Xavante,” 1978, Fundação Nacional do Ìndio, Documentação (Brasília), herein FUNAI, DOC.

2 The classic ethnographic account on the Xavante is Maybury-Lewis, David, Akwẽ-Shavante Society (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974).Google Scholar

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20 Folha de São Paulo, March 17, 1980.

21 Claudio Romero to the Director of the DGO, Brasília, November 1978, FUNAI, DOC.

22 David da Rocha, “Relatório,” P.I. Areôes, October 11, 1976, FUNAI, DOC.

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25 Claudio Romero to Director of the DGO of FUNAI, Brasília, November 1978, FUNAI, DOC.

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27 FUNAI, Assessoria de Planejamento e Coordenação (ASPLAN), “Programa de desenvolvimento para a Nação Xavante,1978, FUNAI, DOC.

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30 Interview with Carlos Dumhiwe, Parabubure village, Parabubure Indigenous Reserve, July 1994.

31 The comments made by Tsorompré were recalled by Claudio Romero in a discussion with FUNAI officials in Brasília on May 9, 1980. Tape in the possession of Arthur Wollman, INCRA, Brasília.

32 See Flowers, Nancy, “Forager-Farmers: The Xavante Indians of Central Brazil” (Ph.D. diss., City University of New York, 1983), p. 312.Google Scholar

33 Fernando Schiavini de Castro, “Relatório Geral de Atividades—Exercício de 1979—Pimentel Barbosa—AJABAG,” n.d., FUNAI, DOC.

34 Tsudzawéré, Aniceto, quoted in O Estado de Mato Grosso, April 20, 1980.Google Scholar

35 Da Silva, Aracy Lopes, “Dois séculos e meio de història Xavante,” in Da Cunha, Manuela Carneiro, ed., História dos Índios no Brasil (São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1992), p. 377.Google Scholar

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37 Ibid.

38 Jornal do Comércio, April 2, 1981.

39 FUNAI, Diretoria de Assistência (DAI), “Projeto Integrado da Área Xavante-MT,” n.d., FUNAI, DOC; FUNAI, ASPLAN, “Atuação da FUNAI na Área Xavante, 1986, FUNAI, DOC.

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42 Corrio Braziliense (Brasília), May 6, 1980.

43 Alves, , “Relatório,” February 1976,Google Scholar FUNAI, DOC.

44 See Francisco dos Santos Magalhães, “Relatório de Ocorrência em 17–10–81,” n.d., FUNAI, DOC; and Luis Carlos Mattos Rodrigues, “Relatório Analítico do 30 e 40 Trimestre/82, Referente Implantação do Projeto Agrícola Xavante/Bororo,” n.d., FUNAI, DOC. For further discussion of intervillage rivalry see Garfield, “‘Civilized’ but Discontent,” pp. 481–553.

45 Magalhães, “Relatório de Ocorrência em 17–10–81,” n.d. FUNAI, DOC.

46 See Graham, , Performing Dreams, p. 67.Google Scholar

47 Maybury-Lewis, D., Akwẽ-Shavante Society, pp. 167–70.Google Scholar

48 On indigenous leadership in Central Brazil, see Levi-Strauss, Claude, “The Social and Psychological Aspects of Chieftainship in a Primitive Tribe: The Nambikwara of Northwestern Mato Grosso” in Comparative Political Systems—Studies in the Politics of Pre-Industrial Societies, eds. Cohen, Ronald and Middleton, John (Garden City, NY: National History Press, 1967), p. 52 Google Scholar; Conklin, Beth and Graham, Laura, “The Shifting Middle Ground: Amazonian Indians and Ecopolitics,” American Anthropologist 97 (1995), pp. 695710 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; on other lowland Amazonian regions, see Jackson, Jean E., “Being and Becoming an Indian in the Vaupés,” in Nation-States and Indians in Latin America, eds. Urban, Greg and Sherzer, Joel (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991), pp. 131–55.Google Scholar

49 Maybury-Lewis, D., Akwẽ-Shavante Society, p. 190.Google Scholar

50 FUNAI Departamento Geral de Operações (DGO), “Projeto de Idelva Nadir Kern e Lucia Magaly Ramos Sendeski referente ao curso de treinamento de monitores bilíngües xavante para o ano de 1982,” n.d., FUNAI, DOC.

51 Luiz Otávio Pinheiro da Cunha, “Criação de Nova Aldeia Xavante na Reserva Parabubure,” Aragarças, May 24, 1983, FUNAI, DOC.

52 Graham, , Performing Dreams, p. 9.Google Scholar

53 José Carlos Alves, 7a Delegacia Regional of FUNAI, to Director of DGO, “Relatório de viagem de Emi de Paula e Souza,” March Ï6, 1983, FUNAI, DOC.

54 Castro, “Relatório Geral de Atividades—Exercício de 1979,” FUNAI, DOC.

55 I have borrowed here from De la Cadena, Marisol, “Women are More Indian: Gender and Ethnicity in Cuzco,” in Ethnicity, Markets and Migration in the Andes: At the Crossroads of History and Anthropology, eds. Larson, Brooke, Harris, Olivia, Tandeter, Enrique (Durham: Duke University Press, 1995), pp. 319–28.Google Scholar

56 Odenir Pinto de Oliveira to Diretor do DGO, Barra do Garças, April 16, 1979, (Encaminhamento No. 005 AIABAG/79), FUNAI, DOC.

57 See Flowers, Nancy, “Subsistence Strategy, Social Organization, and Warfare in Central Brazil in the Context of European Penetration,” in Amazonian Indians from Prehistory to the Present, ed. Roosevelt, Anna (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1994), p. 261.Google Scholar For a comparative study of the impact of western expansion on the political culture of the Yanomami, see Brian Ferguson, R., Yanomami Warfare: A Political History (Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research, 1995).Google Scholar

58 Castro, “Relatório Geral de Atividades—Exercício de 1979,” FUNAI, DOC.

59 Izanoel Sodré, “Relatório sobre a situação do Projeto Xavante na Área do P.I. Culuene,” Barra do Garças, May 26, 1980, FUNAI, DOC.

60 Castro, “Relatório Geral de Atividades—Exercício de 1979,” FUNAI, DOC.

61 Centro Ecumênico de Documentação (CEDI), Aconteceu (1980), p. 18.

62 Diário da Manhã, April 30, 1980.

63 Williams, Suzanne, “Land Rights and the Manipulation of Identity: Official Indian Policy in BrazilJournal of Latin American Studies 15 (1983), pp. 154–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar See also the scathing attack on FUNAI by Mato Grosso’s Secretary of Justice Domingos Sávio Brandão, quoted in Correlo Braziliense, May 1, 1980.

64 da Veiga, Nobre, quoted in Price, Before the Bulldozer, p. 142.Google Scholar

65 Jornal de Brasília, May 6, 1980.

66 See Jornal do Brasil, May 6, 1980.

67 Statement by unnamed government official from taped meeting involving FUNAI leadership, Brasília, May 9, 1980, in the possession of Arturo Wollman, INCRA, Brasilia.

68 See Jornal de Brasília, May 9, 1980; and O Estado de São Paulo, May 11, 1980.

69 de Documentação e Informação, Informação, Aconteceu, (1980), pp. 3839 Google Scholar; and Ramos, , Indigenism, pp. 168–94.Google Scholar

70 For further background on the Juruna controversy, with a highly romanticized portrayal of the Xavante leader, see Juruna, Mario, Hohlfeldt, Antonio, and Hoffmann, Assis, O Gravador do Jumna (Porto Alegre: Mercado Alberto, 1982).Google Scholar For a penetrating analysis of the Juruna controversy, see Ramos, , Indigenism, 104–18Google Scholar; and Conklin and Graham, , “The Shifting Middle Ground,” p. 699.Google Scholar

71 Jornal de Brasília, April 12, 1980.

72 “Os últimos confutes entre os Xavante e a direção da Fundação Nacional do Índio…,” manifesto signed by the Sociedade Brasileira de Indigenistas (SBI), Conselho Indigenista Missionário (CIMI), Centro de Trabalho Indigenista (CTI), Associação Nacional de Apoio ao Ìndio (ANAI), Comissão ProÍndio-São Paulo, n.d., Conselho Indigenista Missionário (CIMI), Brasília, BR.MT.XV.6b/7.

73 Correlo Braziliense, May 9, 1980.

74 Francisco de Campos Figueiredo, “Relatório enfocando as atividades do indigenista Francisco de Campos Figueiredo no Projeto Xavante,” P.I. Couto Magalhães, May 30, 1980, FUNAI, DOC.

75 Williams, , “Land Rights,” p. 158.Google Scholar

76 Ibid., p. 153.

77 See Hagopian, , Traditional Politics” pp. 152–55.Google Scholar

78 Izanoél dos Santos Sodré, “Relatório sobre a Atuação do Projeto Xavante na Área do P.I. Culuene,” Barra do Garças, May 26, 1980, FUNAI, DOC.

79 Ibid.

80 Magalhães, “Relatório de Ocorrência em 17–10–81,” n.d., FUNAI, DOC.

81 Vicente, Antônio et al., “Da Comissão de Serviço Comunicação No 114/81 de 09/04/81 ao Senhor Chefe da Ajudância Autônoma de Barra do Garças, MT,” Barra do Garças, April 27,1981, FUNAI, DOC.Google Scholar

82 Sodré, “Relatório sobre a Atuação do Projeto Xavante,” May 26, 1980, FUNAI, DOC.

83 Letter from the Sociedade Brasileira de Indigenistas to Minister of the Interior, Brasilia, June 16, 1980, Personal Archive of Odenir Pinto de Oliveira, Brasilia. For further discussion on the shake-up in FUNAI, see Gomes, Os índios e o Brasil, pp. 200–02; Price, Before the Bulldozer, pp. 141–48; and Correlo Braziliense, June 7, 1980.

84 See Schneider, , Politics within the State, p. 89.Google Scholar

85 CEDI, Aconteceu, (1980).

86 Correlo Brazlliense, June 10, 1980.

87 CEDI, Aconteceu, (1981).

88 CEDI, Aconteceu, (1980).

89 For further discussion of the fissioning of Xavante villages over the course of the 1980s, see Graham, , Performing Dreams, pp. 5055.Google Scholar

90 Ibid., p. 53.

92 Izanoél Sodré, “Relatório de indigenista Izanoél Sodré sobre a viagem a São Marcos em cumprimento a comunicação de serviço NO. 182/80/AJABAG, 13/10/80,” Barra do Garças, October 20, 1980, FUNAI, DOC.

93 Ibid.

94 Dilce Claudino da Silva, “Relatório da Reunião,” Barra do Garças, August 14, 1980, FUNAI, DOC. In August 1983, under the administration of Octávio Ferreira Lima, FUNAI cancelled the practice of issuing formal credentials to indigenous leaders, stating this was an internal matter for indigenous communities. See FUNAI, Atos da Presidência, “Portaria no 835” August 1, 1983, FUNAI, DOC.

95 Rodolfo Valentini, head of AJABAG, to José Antônio Silveira, Barra do Garças, April 13, 1981, FUNAI, DOC.

96 Rodolpho Valentini to Director of DGO/FUNAI, Barra do Garças, October 29, 1980, FUNAI, DOC.

97 Pinheiro da Cunha, Luiz Otávio, “Sobre a ‘Aldeia’ Buriti Alegre,” Aragarças, September 2, 1983 Google Scholar (Memo, no 440/7a DR/83), FUNAI, DOC.

98 da Silva Lisowski, Dilce Claudino, “Relatório de reunião,” Barra do Garças, August 30, 1981 Google Scholar; and Father Gino Favaro, Director of Colônia Indígena S. Marcos, to Otávio Ferreira Lima, FUNAI President, São Marcos, July 11, 1983, FUNAI, DOC.

99 Cunha, “Criação de Nova Aldeia Xavante na Reserva Parabubure,” Aragarças, May 24, 1983, FUNAI, DOC.

100 José Carlos Al ves to Director of DGO, Aragarças, October 6, 1983 (Informação no. 018/7aDR/83), FUNAI, DOC.

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103 “Xavantaço ou Funailaço,” in CEDI, Povos Indígenas do Brasil, (1986).

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105 “Xavantaço ou Funailaço.”

106 Jornal de Brasília, May 23, 1985.

107 José Carlos Barbosa, Delegado da 7a DR, “Declaração do Delegado—Ministério do Interior, Fundação Nacional do Índio, 7a DR,” reprinted in “Xavantaço ou Funailaço.”

108 Graham, Laura, “Urna aldeia por um ‘projeto,’” Povos indígenas no Brasil-85/86 (São Paulo: CEDI, 1987), pp. 348–50Google Scholar; and Graham, , Performing Dreams, pp. 5758.Google Scholar

109 It is important to note that FUNAI was not entirely successful in restraining the Xavante from demanding additional land. Due to indigenous pressure, FUNAI would authorize the annexation of the region of Volta Grande to the Sangradouro reserve.

110 Tribunal das Contas da União, “Relatório e voto do Ministro Adhemar Ghisi, cujas conclusòes form acolhidas pelo Tribunal, na Sessão Extraordinária realizada em 30 de julho de 1987, ao deliberar, conforme figura no contexto desta Ata, sobre as contas da Fundação Nacional do Indio-FUNAI, exercí- cios de 1983 (Proc. no. 020 276/84–2), 1984 (Proc. no. 016 950/85–2) e 1985 (Proc. no. 010 028/86–2), examinadas em conjunto com processos de denúncia (Proes. nos. 006 262/84–9 e 013 437/84–4) e comos resultados de Inspeção Extraordinária in loco (Proc. 018 683/85–1),” Diário Oficial, Seção 1, (August 20, 1987), pp. 13273–78.

111 Ibid.

112 Graham, , Performing Dreams, p. 57.Google Scholar

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116 ”Ao Excelentíssimo Senhor Presidente da República Fed. do Brasil, Dr. José Sarney,” letter signed by Xavante chiefs from various reservations, Brasília, September 7, 1987, CIMI, BR.MT.XV.6b\10.

117 Graham, , Performing Dreams, p. 61.Google Scholar

119 See Scott, James C., Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), pp. 36; 262–306.Google Scholar

120 See Schwartzman, Simon, Bases do autoritarismo brasileiro, 2d ed. (Rio de Janeiro: Editora Campus, 1982), p. 23.Google Scholar