Antônio Vieira versus Camaristas: conflitos e disputas pelo poder temporal dos indígenas (Maranhão, 1653-1661)

Abstract

We intend to analyze the conflict over the temporal power of the indigenous people in seventeenth century Maranhão between the colonists, represented by the Camarista body, whose members were called "good men," and the religious order, the Society of Jesus, represented by Father Antônio Vieira. The time frame encompasses the period from 1653 to 1661, which marks the arrival of the third wave of Jesuit missionaries to the state of Maranhão, with Father Antônio Vieira as their superior, as well as the year of the Jesuits' expulsion. This period is one of the most tense between colonists and religious leaders due to the application of two main laws: the 1653 law, which required the presence of religious leaders in the Descimentos process, and the April 9, 1655, law, which granted both spiritual and temporal power over the natives to the Society of Jesus. This law brought about a turnaround in the colony's political and administrative process, sparking the discontent of the Camaristas. This group's annoyance intensified with the establishment of a Junta (Board) aimed at examining the legal status of the natives belonging to the colonists. To analyze this conflict, we will refer to the council letters, such as the letter of April 27, 1654, as well as the records made in the Book of Agreements of the São Luís City Council, 1649-1654, along with the letter written by Vieira that recounts the Junta's proceedings (1655), demonstrating how the colonists' actions to capture natives took place, the contempt shown for the indigenous people by failing to differentiate between free natives and those in captivity, and the colonists' constant enticement of the indigenous people. Vieira's responses to the Camaristas are found in the texts he wrote between 1654 and 1661, such as his sermons—Sermão de Santo Antônio aos Peixes (1654), Sermão da Primeira Oitava (1656), and Sermão da Quatro Domingo da Lent (1660)—as well as in letters addressed to the Senate of the Pará Chamber in 1661. The clash between these groups led to the expulsion of the Society of Jesus in 1661, allowing the Camaristas to regain administrative control over the indigenous population and the colony's political and administrative reorganization. To analyze the polemical discourse between these two groups (Jesuits and Camaristas), we will use the concepts of Bakhtinian dialogism. Mikhail Bakhtin establishes that dialogic relations are social relations of values that constitute a statement endowed with ideological discourse. In this sense, according to the Russian philosopher of language, it is necessary to consider who writes the text, to whom it is addressed, and in what situation it was produced in order to understand the author's intention (BAKHTIN, 2011, pp. 307-308).