Indigenous struggle at the heart of Brazil: state policy, frontier expansion, and the Xavante Indians, 1937-1988

Garfield, Seth

Book

Indigenous struggle at the heart of Brazil: state policy, frontier expansion, and the Xavante Indians, 1937-1988

Duke University Press • Durham, Nc • Published In 2001 • Pages:

By: Garfield, Seth.

Abstract
This historical account of the Xavante peoples’ incorporation into the Brazilian nation focuses on a period in which the state pursued two broad policies with contrasting effects on Xavante culture and society. The first was an ambitious program of industrialization and political centralization under different authoritarian regimes, in which the Xavante lost much of their land to private investors and large-scale state development projects. This was followed by a devolution of state powers to local administrative units by a democratic government under international pressure to address the indigenous problem, an opportunity seized by the Xavante to regain some lands, reclaim their history, and revitalize their culture.

History

Acculturation and culture contact

Research and development

Public welfare

Real property

Acquisition and relinquishment of property

Political movements

Citizenship

Form and rules of government

Social relationships and groups

Ethos

Functional and adaptational interpretations