A Tropa de Cera de Vitorino: Os Kanhgág no Paraná nas rotas de cavalos e bois

Abstract

Intertwining Museology, Archeology and Anthropology, this article discusses a unique set of pieces deposited in the Museu Paranaense (MUPA) collection. It is what we call a troop of humans and animals made in beeswax by a Kanhgág craftsman, Vitorino, in the 1940s. In-depth research allowed not only to reclassify the set in the MUPA collection, but also to complexify the understanding of its trajectory, from the micro-context of its production and collection, to the macro-context of its insertion in the sphere of relations between the Kanhgág in the state of Paraná and the non-indigenous invaders of their territories. Our focus is especially on what these materials tell us about the interactions of the Kanhgág with introduced domesticated animals and with certain artifacts linked to the world of farms (shotguns, harnesses, ties, hats). With this in mind, we explore the multiple narratives of encounters between indigenous and non-indigenous that may emerge from the investigation of materialities, highlighting aspects that are still little discussed in the history of interethnic relations in Brazil.