ABSTRACT
This article aims to analyze the interpretations of positivism in Brazil in the early twentieth century, particularly when it referred to native populations. Regarding these interpretations, Comtism postulated the “law of three stages”, according to which humanity passed through the following stages: theological, (which was divided into three consecutive ages: fetishism, polytheism, and monotheism); metaphysics and positive. Positivists in Brazil claimed that native populations were fetishists, and would be the first human mental stage from Auguste Comte’s ideas. Therefore, it was necessary to care for them and protect them so that they could reach the mental state of civilization. That being said, the article examines the proposals made by the Positivist Apostolate of Brazil for the Indigenous issue at the time of the Indian Protection Service and National Workers Location (SPILTN)’s creation by analyzing a set of published texts. The SPILTN was a new federal policy created in 1910 by the National State in charge of the Indigenous question.
Keywords:
Indigenous peoples; Positivism; APB; SPILTN; National state