Puris in ihrer Hütte. Pl.3

Title

Puris in ihrer Hütte. Pl.3

Description

View of a brasilian family, the Puri.The purí (also puri, puri-cororado) tribe lived along the northern coast of South America and in Brazil. They are not extinct but have mixed with people of Paraiba do Sul though last original groups were last found in the lowlands of the Mato Grosso. Both the German naturalist Maximilian von Wied-Neuwied and Burmeist describe the nomadic Puri of the 19th century. Burmeist states that their huts were very light habitations, built of palm tree leaves and "resembling bird cages", while Wied-Neuw speaks of their simplicity and lack of attachment to structures and land, valuing only few tools. With the deforestation resulting from the extensive coffee plantations of the time, the nomadic peoples of Brazil lost much of their space, and many the remaining Puri were forced to work in the farms, as domestic workers and, especially, as lumberjacks for the clearing of the forest and carrying of wood through the river, forming a cheap workforce for landowners.

ca. 1815

Artist

Wied-Neuwied (1782-1867)

Prince Alexander Philipp Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied ( 1782 – 1867)Neuwied, was a German explorer, ethnologist and naturalist. He led a pioneering expedition to southeast Brazil between 1815–1817, from which the album Reise nach Brasilien, which first revealed to Europe real images of Brazilian Indians, was the ultimate result. It was translated into several languages and recognized as one of the greatest contributions to the knowledge of Brazil at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1832 he embarked on another expedition, this time to North America, together with the Swiss painter Karl Bodmer.

Historical Description

The oldest traces of human life were found in the Caverna da Pedra Pintada in the state of Piauí. The early inhabitants fundamentally changed the ecosystem of the Amazon basin by planting certain types of plants and improving the soil. Their settlements - for example on the huge river island of Marajó - were far larger than long thought. In the province of Mato Grosso there were numerous planned locations where fish farming and agriculture were practiced until around 1500. The cities, which were up to 60 hectares in size, were connected by a road network - although in most areas the canoe was the means of transportation - there were dams and artificial ponds. As in many places in America, the people of the Xingu are believed to have been victims of the epidemic, especially smallpox. The indigenous peoples in Brazil lived partly from hunting, fishing and gathering, as well as from the fragile ecosystem of adapted soil management. A large part of the local population died in the course of European colonization, mostly from imported diseases, but also as a result of forced labor or enslavement. The majority of the Indians living outside the rainforest, especially in the cities, were assimilated insofar as they survived violence and epidemics and mingled with European immigrants. Already in 1494 Portugal and Spain decided to divide South America in the Tordesillas Treaty. Because the line had been agreed in ignorance of the coastline of the New World, the (at that time still generally unknown) eastern tip of South America also belonged to Portugal. The prerequisite for a legitimate possession was the consequent catholization of the locals. The period from 1500 to 1530 was marked by bartering with the locals. In 1549, today's Salvador da Bahia (São Salvador da Bahía de Todos os Santos) was named the capital. From 1530, native Indians were brought to the coast from inland who had to do the work on the sugar cane plantations in the northeast. Many of them died because of hard work, persecution, and indigenous susceptibility to European diseases. The colonialists then tried to replace the lost labor with slaves from Africa.