Movements involving Kaingang Indians and German immigrants in territories of Caí hydrographic Basin

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing the advance of the agricultural frontier of the Brazilian national State and the spatial movements of Kaingang Indians and German immigrants in Caí hydrographic basin. The Brazilian national State advance towards the plateau of the state of Rio Grande do Sul was accomplished through the settlement of German immigrants in the Caí hydrographic basin. This process built an interethnic frontier between the Kaingang people and German immigrants, intensifying relations of alliance and conflict between both groups. We consider that the territory and its distinct conceptions were a decisive aspect involving the relationship between Indians and immigrants, both on a matter of conflict and displacement. As if it was a disputed space between two ethnic groups, the gradual loss of territory implied that the Kaingang intensified their movements and belligerent charges against the invaders, following their own native cultural logic; concerning to immigrants, they had to consolidate the movements established and wanted by the Government.