Indians, Whites and Blacks. Inter-ethnic relations on the border between Chiquitos and Mato Grosso, 18th century

Abstract

This article describes the border situation between the Spanish and Portuguese empires in the Upper Paraguay River during Jesuit and Late Colonial times. It points out transformations over the ethnic cartography, the sociocultural changes and the effects on the interethnic relations caused by the late conquest and colonization of the region. Socio-historic processes such as the bandeirantes slave raids, the Chiquito-Guaycurú war, the territorial dispute between Spain and Portugal, and changes in the colonial administration of the province of Chiquitos after the expulsion of the Jesuits are taken into account. We especially consider the impact of those historic processes on the native groups that inhabited the river coasts and neighbouring lands, as well as the relations involving Indians, white and black people coming from the Kingdonm of Portugal.