VILLAGE’S HERDS: INVESTIGATING THE INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND PATTERNS OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AMONG INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN AMAZONIA (RONDÔNIA)

Abstract

This paper discuss the introduction of European domestic animals in indigenous villages in the Amazon, with particular stress on groups in Rondonia, specially the Karitiana, a Tupi-Arikém-speaking people that lives in the north of that state. In what concerns the history of Brazilian territorial conquest, marked by the ‘frentes pastoris’’ great narrative, and the present expansion – material and also ideological – of husbandry throughout Amazonia, this article points to many questions about the position of these animals – above all cattle – in indigenous peoples’ symbolical and material universes. Suggests new investigative possibilities, that inquires not only implemented experiences with animal husbandry in indigenous villages, but also desires and projects designed to future implementations.