A flecha e a sapucaia : xamanismo puri e coroado nas Minas Gerais coloniais (1760-1823).

Abstract

This work aims to reconstruct some cosmological elements of the Puri, Coroado and other indigenous groups that inhabited the territories of south-eastern Minas Gerais, analyzing historical sources between the decades of 1760 and 1820. Our investigations are about the shamanism practiced by these groups, defining “shamanism” as a range of practices and worldviews based on a universe trespassed by spiritual elements, where beings such as animals, vegetables, spirits and humans can influence one another in various ways. Through these investigations, we aim to better understand the categories of thought that oriented decisions of these indigenous groups throughout their histories, such as their notions of humanity, kinship, nature, alliance and war. For various historical reasons, there are relatively few ethnographic and ethnological works written about the cosmologies of the Puri and Coroado peoples, if compared to the literature about other indigenous peoples of South America. Because of that, our work is based on travelogues that bring proto-ethnographic descriptions about traditional practices, mythological elements and other information about their worldviews. In our effort, we develop a frequent dialogue with anthropological concepts, aiming to understand cosmological elements of the Puri-Coroado peoples that are similar to the ones described in other South American indigenous societies. Aside from these interdisciplinary efforts, our work discusses central themes and problems within the historiography about Minas Gerais and the indigenous peoples of Brazil, discussing subjects such as the relationship between the colonization of Minas Gerais and the territories called “sertões” (or backlands), the processes of indigenous ethnogenesis and the multitude of strategies mobilizes by the originary peoples in face of the advance of colonisation.