The People

Contents

Amazon Indians

Caboclos

Goldminers &
Prospectors

City Dwellers

Sertanistas

The Incas

Rubber Barons

The Brazilians

Sertanistas

Sertanistas are workers of Brazil's Indian Protection Service (FUNAI) who specialise in making first contact with remote Indian tribes. It is difficult and dangerous work.

Of course, there aren't many uncontacted tribes left – most of the work was carried out in the 1940s to 1970s but, every now and again, a new one is discovered. Perhaps the most recent new tribe was a sub-tribe of Guajß who were contacted in 1990.

Making contacts with new tribes is very difficult because the Indians are very suspicious of strangers, and they are often hostile. Sertanistas make contact by building a small hut in the middle of the rainforest near where the new tribe live. The hut is built of corrugated iron or other tough materials. The huts need to be tough enough to withstand and Indian attack – which is very possible, and even likely.

The sertanistas will then work in an area close to their hut – perhaps planting crops or making handicrafts. The idea is to make themselves visible to the Indians in a non-threatening manner. It would be very difficult (and dangerous) for the sertanistas to go in search of the Indians because the Indians are so good at hiding in the rainforest, and may attack if they think the sertanistas are chasing them. It is much easier to let the Indians find the sertanistas.

To make the Indians feel welcome, the sertanistas hang up gifts for the Indians on nearby trees. The type of gifts haven't changed much since the first Indian contacts hundreds of years ago – they consist of colourful glass beads, mirrors, pots, knives, scissors, and metal axes. Metal axes are perhaps the item most greatly valued by the Indians because they are much better than the blunt stone axes previously used by the Indians. Eventually, the Indians find the gifts and (after some thought) take them. The sertanistas replace them with more gifts.

Unsure who the sertanistas are, the Indians usually decide to watch them for a few days. In many cases, the Indians decide to launch an attack on the sertanistas' hut – testing their strength and perhaps obtaining more gifts. This is where it gets very dangerous, and this is why the sertanistas' hut has to be strong. The sertanistas don't fight back (because they don't want to make enemies of the Indians), instead they wait out the attack from inside their hut and wait for the Indians to stop. After this, talks can begin.

The Indians are still very dangerous once talks begin. One group of sertanistas ran out of gifts for the Indians – causing the Indians to get angry enough to kill the sertanistas.

Sertanistas know that their work is very dangerous. But they are well-trained, and are prepared to take the risks. The sertanistas' motto is "Die if necessary – but never kill".

The sertanistas were created by CΓndido Rondon when he established the Indian Protection Service in 1910. The most famous and successful sertanistas were the Villas-Boas brothers who established Amaz⌠nia's Xingu reserve as a place to provide protection for many Indian tribes.