FROM FELIPE A DIOGO CAMARÃO: THE CREATION AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE POSITION OF GOVERNOR OF THE INDIANS IN THE STATE OF BRAZIL[1][1] Text based on the author's doctoral thesis defended at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in 2022.

Abstract

This article examines the process of institutionalization of the position of Governor of the Indians in the State of Brazil. Created in 1636, during the Portuguese-Dutch wars, this post was initially granted to Felipe Camarão and, after his death, to his cousin Diogo Camarão. The main objective is to understand the performance of Diogo Pinheiro Camarão, who led the government of the Indians between 1648 and 1677. Through a historiographical review and the analysis of unpublished sources, the thesis is defended that the administration of Diogo Camarão represented a milestone in the relationship between the indigenous leaders and the agents of the Portuguese crown, consolidating the role of the governors of the Indians as intermediaries between the settlements and the royal authorities. In addition, it seeks to understand the political-administrative and military actions of these indigenous leaders, which materialized definitively at the end of the administration of the first two governors.