CRUZ DAS almas: a BRAZILIAN VILLAGE — PIERSON 



church subsequently sought to regulate. The 

 competition between the Jesuits, who wished to 

 settle the Indians in villages under their constant 

 instruction, and the other European colonists, 

 who desired slaves to work their fields or to aid 

 in the exploitation of the interior, eventually led 

 to serious opposition, violence, and the final ex- 

 pulsion of the Jesuits from Brazil in 1759. The 

 Portuguese Goverimient, hampered by distance 

 and inadequate means of communication, also 

 sought to regulate the relations between In- 

 dians and colonists by settling the Indians in 

 aldeias under appointed administrators or appor- 

 tioning them to individuals as administrados for 

 whose well-being they presumably were respon- 

 sible to the crown. 



Miscegenation between Portuguese and in- 

 digenous Indians began with the arrival of the 

 Europeans and continued extensively until the 

 native peoples, as a distinct group, liad disap- 

 peared from the region. From this race mixture, 

 there gradually emerged what Paulo Prado has 

 referred to as "a new race," the Paulista. ( Prado, 

 1934, p. 21.) As in other parts of Brazil, amal- 

 gamation continued, although perhaps to a more 

 limited extent, with the subsequent importation 

 of Africans. It is probable that in few places in 

 the world has the fusion of peoples of diverse 

 racial stocks proceeded so continuously and on 

 so extensive a scale as in this country (Pierson, 

 1942, especially chs. 4 and 5). 



When the first Europeans actually settled in 

 the specific area under study is unknown. In 

 1561, the Tiete River was descended from Sao 

 Paulo by an armed expedition sent out by the gov- 

 ernor-general of Brazil, Mem de Sa, in which 

 the famed Jesuit missionary. Padre Anchieta, 

 participated. This expedition passed along the 

 margin of the present community and reached 

 Porto Feliz below it. With the second visit to 

 Sao Paulo of Mem de Sa, in 1567. the distribu- 

 tion of lands to Europeans was speeded up. 



In 1590, gold was discovered on the margin of 

 the present community and this led "to a veritable 

 mania of mining," as one writer puts it. "Fas- 

 cinated by gold," Europeans got themselves 

 iateas and set to work panning the rivers, creeks, 

 and "even the washings of rain water" in the vi- 



cinity.^ Imaginations were fired by this and 

 other similar discoveries in the region. In March 

 1607, an expedition "for the discovery of gold, 

 silver, and other metals" composed of "forty or 

 fifty" Europeans and "a large number" of In- 

 dians set out to penetrate as far as possible into 

 the interior. 



In 1619, three land grants were made to settlers 

 in or near the area under study. At that time, 

 mention was made of Europeans already living 

 in the area. Following a severe feud between two 

 Sao Paulo families, the Pires and the Camargos, 

 which broke out in 1641, several "notable person- 

 ages" from the defeated family settled on the 

 Tiete River near this area and land taken up by 

 these settlers, either at that time or later, extended 

 over into the present community. One man is 

 reported to have had 500 Indian slaves, two others 

 to have had 100 each and a fourth, 115. The 

 town which grew out of this settlement subse- 

 quently came seriously to rival the town of Sao 

 Paulo. As one writer put it, "they had everything 

 wliich Sao Paulo had : nobles, Indians, mixed 

 bloods, a church and a GamaraP ' Vigorous op- 

 position soon developed on the part of residents 

 at Sao Paulo whose leaders sought unsuccessfully 

 to prevent this settlement from being recognized 

 as a Vila, of equal standing with their town. These 

 early settlers were soon joined by others, several 

 of whom bore names which subsequently became 

 famous in Paulista history. 



The economy of the region, previous to the 

 coming of the Europeans, was largely extractive 

 in character, although to some extent also agri- 

 cultural. Fish were taken from the streams and 

 game and fruits from the virgin forest. Patches 

 of timber were cleared, fired, and used for 

 planting. 



The Carijo made considerable use of traps. 

 They are known to have grown maize, beans, pea- 

 nuts, card {Dioscorea sp^^.), paj^aya, wild pine- 

 apples, tobacco, and sweet manioc. They are said 

 to have had a dozen recipes for preparing maize. 

 Salt was not used. Tobacco was smoked in clay 

 pipes. A tamheid made of resin was worn in the 

 upper lip. Fur mantles were used. Each fam- 



" Local residents recount an unsuccessful attempt subsequently 

 made with primitive instruments to straighten a bend in the 

 TietS River and thus expose the bed for a considerable distance 

 for gold panning. 



' Legislative body. 



