The Pacaa Nova During Times of Hardship

A Synopsis of the Lives of Brazil’s Indigenous Population

May 29, 2009

The Pacaa Nova people of Brazil have faced many hardships in their cultural way of life. One attack is the rubber boom, where many people have die due to disease.

The Pacaa Nova people who live in Brazil are people that have learned to live their cultural life, and survive contact with white settlers to their homeland. The ‘Rubber Boom’ is seen as the down fall of many native people in South America, where numbers of epidemic and genocidal events are prevalent. In many cases, the Pacaa Nova adapted to the encroachment of the colonial powers by working at white run agencies, but they don’t trust the organizations established to aid them. Living in a world where they are now the outsiders, the Pacaa Nova are vigilant to what is happening around them.

The Rubber Boom in the Land of the Pacaa Nova

The impact of the ‘Rubber Boom’ during the first decades of the twentieth century is seen as a very anxiety filled time for the Pacaa Nova people. The expansion of the rubber tappers brought them into contact with the Pacaa Nova. Because of this, disease was spread faster and easier then in the days of colonization generations before. Whole native populations disappeared with the economic movements of the rubber tappers, whose living conditions spread within the interior of the forest, causing the natives to compete with them. Thus it is seen that the death and disease had reached a genocidal population count.

The slaughter of native people by settlers, miners and rubber tappers also added up a major toll. Due to hostile engagements between rubber gatherers and Pacaa Nova in the early years of the ‘Rubber Boom’, the native population had to assimilate or be pushed out. The ones integrated lived in both worlds of being Pacaa Nova and tappers. The Pacaa Nova that integrated into the rubber craze were used as rowers, hunters, guides, or performed general camp duties rather than be put to work as a rubber tapper. They were also used to lure other people to the camps. The dependency on the rubber tapper way of life on the native people has caused them to live more like the white workers, and less concerned with their cultural beliefs.

The Establishment of the Indian Service and FUNAI

‘Internal Colonialism’ included the agencies that the government established to peacefully deal with the native people. Aside from the missions, the government established the Indian Service that was established in 1910. The Service was established when there were hostile relations between the native people and settlers. The settlers wanted military expeditions called in to rid the native problem, where the government called for protection of native culture and lands. The Service set up posts to keep an eye on the native people, but in most cases, their information would be wrong or out of date, and even incomplete. The agents would also be ignorant in the language and customs of the native group they were in charge of. The Service was then discredited, disbanded and replaced by the FUNAI (Fundacao Nacional do Indio - National Foundation for Indians) in the late 1960s.

Within FUNAI, agents were trained in the basics when dealing with the native people that they would be in contact with, but were soon disenchanted due to lack of funds and support on the frontier. Some of the other modern agents of change to the Pacaa Nova continued to be missionaries. During the twentieth century, the missions are Protestants from North America and dominate countries in Europe. They believe their task is to bring the word of God to every tribe in their native language. They are modern agents of change strictly in the spiritual sense.

Over the decades and generations, the Pacaa Nova have valiantly learned to accept their changing ‘free world’. As time goes by, more Pacaa Nova people are working for the Brazilian companies popping up all over the country. It was during the ‘Rubber Boom’, where disease and murder have nearly decimated the already lowering populations of the native people in South America. The Service and FUNAI have attempted to help the native people, but their policies at times have damaged the balance of government to native relations from time to time.

The copyright of the article The Pacaa Nova During Times of Hardship in Cultural Anthropology is owned by Maureen Zieber. Permission to republish The Pacaa Nova During Times of Hardship in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.