Entre as terras do Rio Branco e a Guiana Inglesa: relatos de viajantes sobre povos indígenas (1835-1899)

Abstract

The thesis is based on Peter Burke's historiographical approach on the cultural history of representations and on indigenous history to analyze travelers’ reports about the indigenous people in the region between the extreme north of Brazil and British Guiana in the 19th century. We worked on the reports of the Prussian explorer Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804-1865), the Canadian geologist Charles Barrington Brown (1839-1917), both at the service of the Royal Geographical Society of the British crown; next, we analyze the French traveler Henri Anatole Coudreau (1859-1899), on a mission for the Ministry of the Navy and the French Colonies and the government of the state of Pará. As a central objective, I analyze the relationship between travelers and indigenous peoples, the alliances and strategies used through scientific research to serve the demarcation and land occupation interests of the country sponsoring the enterprise on the border of Brazil and British Guiana between 1835 and 1899.