Beyond passivity

Indigenous women as active agents (XVI-XVII)

Abstract

This article proposes the analysis of different perspectives on indigenous women and the historical processes that involve them, especially in the colonial period, seeking a dialogue that goes beyond the passive perspective, understanding them as active agents. In the first section of the article, the discussions are carried out based on the analysis of classic works of historiography on the subject: Brasileiras célebres (1862), Casa Grande & Senzala (1933), Eva Tupinambá (1997) and From cunhã to mameluca: a mulher tupinambá e o nascimento do Brasil ((2016), as well as “A História da Província de Santa Cruz” (1576) by Pero de Magalhães Gândavo. Although each one was developed with a specific purpose, whether to portray notable female figures, analyze the formation of Brazilian society, or describe and document the passage through the Province of Santa Cruz, they also record perceptions of exoticism, passivity, or pure resistance, which are part of the construction of an image-based acceptance of points such as power relations, politics, and violence related to the experiences of indigenous women in the formation of Brazil. In the second section, we analyze the experiences of these women based on the connections established with colonists. In this sense, we think about the parental relationships established as an institution, which is also sought to occupy social and political positions that would not otherwise be occupied. Thus, this article proposes a synthetic reflection on the possibilities that indigenous women inserted in colonial society had to construct their identities and exercise their actions as agents in the construction of their realities.