Ethnic boundaries

brief history of the “indigenous question” in Brazil

Abstract

This text outlines a brief history of the "indigenous issue" in Brazil through a synthetic reading combining Renato Athias, Roberto Cardoso de Oliveira, Manuela Carneiro da Cunha and Fredrik Barth. After presenting a few words about the different theories that have addressed (and influenced) the interethnic relations in the Brazilian context we follow with a discussion in which the interethnic contact ceases to have culture as its main focus and begins to be understood through social relations based on opposing and interdependent interests. Based on the discussion about the borders between different ethnic groups we emphasize that the problem of interethnic relations is not the cultural differences but the processes of social exclusion.