The Eurocentric version of the founding of the city of Rio de Janeiro begins with the expulsion of the French and the self-determination of the Portuguese as owners of a land already inhabited by the Tupinambá people. Cities in Brazil were built on indigenous villages and bodies, by burying their heritage. The great Battle of Uruçumirim was fought where the Glória neighborhood is today, which received its name due to the victory of the Portuguese, who carried out carnage against the people originally from that place.
Photo: Thiago Diniz
We passed by the open-air mural-art gallery of the cultural and artistic project Caminho Ancestral da Glória, which aims to give visibility to the ancestral history of the neighborhood. In light of this artistic project, we can reflect on how the resistance and self-expression of indigenous peoples can also be perceived in different artistic manifestations.
Photo: Thiago Diniz
After the domination of the ancestral territories of the original peoples, churches were generally built on villages or palisades of resistance, as was the case with the Igreja da Glória, built with indigenous and African slave labor. It is one of the strategies for erasing people, their cultures and languages, demonstrating supremacy over others, justifying victory through the sacred and hiding all the violence and extermination produced.
Photo: Thiago Diniz
The Canoe War is narrated as the conflict between the French and Portuguese, in which Saint Sebastian appears jumping from canoe to canoe, giving encouragement to the Christian Portuguese, thus becoming the patron saint of the city, represented pierced by arrows, tied to a post, in an analogy to Estácio de Sá, killed by a poisoned arrow from Aymberê, a Tupinambá.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Former aristocratic residence of a Portuguese man who became rich through the trade of enslaved people, the Palácio do Catete became the seat of the Presidency of the Republic and, therefore, the place of government political decisions that directly affected indigenous populations. From the Empire to the Republic, these decisions were guided by an integrationist perspective, that is, the understanding that it was necessary to civilize indigenous peoples (considered “savages”), according to European parameters so that they could be part of the nation.
Guanabara, the breast of the sea in Tupi, the breast from which the sea water flowed, extended and generated many lives, human, fauna and flora. The sea reached extensive areas and bumped into the hills and hills of the Atlantic Forest. There were many islands and islets that existed before the drownings and landfills, at least 127 islands floated in the arc of Guanabara Bay. It was like an enchanted place. In the mythology of the Tupinambá paradise, gûaîupîa or guajupiá was an idyllic place, covered in flowers and watered by a wonderful river with beautiful land and trees on the banks.
In the Tupinambá domain of Guanabara there were at least 84 tabas (villages, in Tupi), with their own names. In each, there were 7 to 8 malocas (community houses) with around 500 to 600 residents. Paranapuã Island (Governor Island) was the stronghold of the Temiminos who, despite common cultural traits, were rivals of the Tupinambás and allied themselves with the Portuguese because they were expelled from their place of origin by the Tupinambás with the support of the French; but until then, rivalry did not mean decimating the opponent according to the logic of the European colonizer.
In the 16th century, a French writer reported the existence of a Tupinambá village called Karióka at one of the river's mouths, which became mainly responsible for the city's water supply. Then called Rio de Janeiro, it was fundamental to our survival. Its water body has its source in the Tijuca Forest, but today most of it is landfilled.
Who are the subjects represented in the monuments spread across the city? In May 2023, research was released stating that less than 10% of monuments in Rio depict black people. Of 358 busts and statues, only 32 figures are black, divided between 29 men and just three women. These data are alarming and it is even more worrying when we realize the great absence of heritage that represents indigenous people, but the persistence of tributes to those responsible for the genocide of these peoples, such as Estácio de Sá.
A valuable and rare piece of the material culture of indigenous peoples, the Tupinambá Cloak, a fabric with red maned feathers, was used by shamans during some rituals. At the beginning of colonization, it was taken by European travelers and was preserved in the National Museum of Denmark. In June 2023, it was announced that it will definitely return to Brazil to join the collection of the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro.
Yandê is the first indigenous web radio in Brazil, created with the aim of sharing multimedia content and contributing to the recovery and empowerment of the country's diverse indigenous cultures. On air since 2013, the radio has collaborators and correspondents from all over Brazil, with programming that includes interviews, podcasts, traditional and contemporary music, educational programs, among other materials. Rádio Yandê has a website and is on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Art: Respect is necessary
Cities invaded the territories of original peoples and to this day many are forced to migrate from the areas where they live to urban centers. In recent years, indigenous groups have organized, fought, occupied spaces and developed urban villages. In Rio de Janeiro, for example, Aldeia Vertical emerged in the Estácio neighborhood and Aldeia Maracanã in the old Indian Museum building that was at risk of demolition.
Art deco is a style that combines modern designs with traditional elements, abstract and geometric shapes, and which stands out in architecture. In Brazil, the recovery of indigenous themes proposed by the 1922 Modern Art Week had a profound impact on the style that appropriated elements of art produced by the indigenous peoples of Marajó Island (PA). The influence of Marajoara art became significant in the country's architectural buildings, many in Rio de Janeiro.
Authored by journalist Rafael Freitas da Silva, the book “O Rio Antes do Rio” covers the history of Guanabara Tupinambá and its ancestral villages, the dispute between the Portuguese and French, the genocide against the natives and the battles that marked the founding of Rio de Janeiro. January.
Arandu Arakuaa is a Brazilian indigenous metal band. All songs are sung in Tupi-Guarani and address indigenous cultures. This artistic work can be found on various Streaming platforms and social networks.
