The founder of the colony, Nicolas Durand, le chevalier de Villegagnon, promised religious freedom to those who arrived. However, over time, Villegagnon reconverted to Catholicism and began persecuting the Protestants. After eight months, the Protestants, including Jean de L\u00e9ry, left the colony and relocated to a location in close proximity to the Tupinamb\u00e1 people (Tupi) of the region.2<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jean de L\u00e9ry resided with the Tupinamb\u00e1 for a year. During this time, he took detailed notes about the culture and customs of this Indigenous people. In 1578, he published L’Histoire d’un voyage fait dans la terre du Br\u00e9sil<\/em>, which was the first French ethnographic work published.3<\/a><\/sup> His book describes the rituals and ceremonies of the Tupinamb\u00e1, as well as translations of songs, food, clothing, and the flora and fauna he observed during his travels. Importantly, he reflected on contemporary religious attitudes in Europe and drew connections between the cannibalism of the Tupinamb\u00e1 and the cruel behavior of Europeans during these wars.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Tupinamb\u00e1 are South American Indigenous peoples who, from the 16th-17th century inhabited the Eastern coast of Brazil from Cear\u00e1 to Porto Alegre. They are one group of Native people speaking the Tupian language. During this time, the Tupinamb\u00e1 resided in large patrilineal villages of about 1000 people. They are thought to have had a sizable population across twenty-seven villages from the 16th to 17th centuries.5<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 They were the largest Indigenous coastal group of the period.6<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Tupinamb\u00e1 relied on agricultural cultivation supplemented with hunting and fishing. They grew maize and manioc (cassava), as well as beans, pineapple, sweet potato, peanuts, and pepper to sustain their community. After the arrival of European colonizers, they began additionally growing bananas, sugar cane, and sorghum that were introduced.7<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0When the Portuguese began their conquest of Brazil through colonization, the Tupinamb\u00e1 were forced to constantly migrate in order to escape enslavement. In attempts to take back their land, their villages waged wars in response to various French, Dutch, and Portuguese incursions. These battles decimated the Tupi population through violence and disease. As a result, their population was nearly eradicated.8<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, there are only two small regions in Brazil where the Tupinamb\u00e1 continue to reside.9<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2004, the Tupi began regaining control of some areas of their territory after around five centuries of massacres and forced removals. Their regained territory is covered by the rich Atlantic forest and is known to the Tupinamb\u00e1 as the home of the “enchanted ones.” According to their traditions, the forest is home to the gods and is “the source of all life.”10<\/a><\/sup> Today, the Tupinamb\u00e1 “remain committed” to fighting the Brazilian state to regain their right to their land.11<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n For more information on the Tupinamb\u00e1, you can watch this<\/a> documentary: Tupinamb\u00e1: The Return of the Land<\/em> (2015). The short documentary tells the story of centuries of struggle by the Tupinamb\u00e1 to remain on their land using archival footage and interviews with those who currently live in the Tupinamb\u00e1 de Oliven\u00e7a Indigenous Territory. In honor of the Encantados (Ancestral Sipirits), the Tupinamb\u00e1 have resisted violent incursion from colonizers and the Brazilian government in order to protect their sacred land. Importantly, through their struggle for land, the Tupinamb\u00e1 show the strength of their relationship with their environment, saying “you do not commercialize land, land is for living, it’s for working, planting, and harvesting” not for commercialization.13<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n Who was Jean de L\u00e9ry? Jean de L\u00e9ry was a French explorer and writer born in the 1530s in Margelle (Bourgogne), France. He was a…<\/p>\nWho Were\/Are the Tupinamb\u00e1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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