In this article we revisit a famous chapter of Brazilian history, yet to be properly analysed from an ethnological perspective: the 'Tamoio confederation,' a coalition of 16th century coastal Tupian groups who threatened to undermine Portuguese colonization during the dispute between the French and Portuguese for the Guanabara region (now Rio de Janeiro). Was this 'confederation' a new phenomenon in Tupian politics, engendered by the Conquest and inducing a shift towards political centralization? Or was it, on the contrary, the actualization of a possibility already (always) present in Tupian forms of political organization and action? These are the questions guiding our inquiry, which we seek to answer through the use of both historical sources and the in-depth ethnological knowledge of Tupi-Guarani peoples developed by various authors over recent decades.
Confederations; Tamoio; Ancient Coastal Tupi; Political Anthropology; Pierre Clastres