Indigenous invisibility in the Contestado conflict and region and its museological representations

Abstract

Amid the traditionally occupied territory of the Kaingang and Xokleng peoples, systematically expropriated since colonial times, the Contestado War (1912–1916) occurred: the climax of a devastating conflict resulting from the dispossession of land from small national farmers by local elites supported by federal forces. Added to this was the territorial dispute between Paraná and Santa Catarina. Subject of broad research involving professors and students from the Anthropology Department at UEL, the constructed invisibility and attributed irrelevance of the Indigenous presence in the region, especially in the disruptive context of the conflict, are evidenced through document studies and analysis of hegemonic historiography and ethnology. This essay infers representations of these Indigenous groups through the investigation and analysis of items displayed in or belonging to collections from regional museums dedicated to the memory of the War. The findings confirm their marginalization, both in relation to the collections and the museological narratives.