Everyday Communication and Barter between the French and Brazilian Indians in the 16th Century

Abstract

The article deals with numerous French and Portuguese testimonies on the everyday communication based on the barter between French and the Brazilian Indians in the 16th and the early 17th century. The French presence in Brazil continued for about a century, oscillating between “official” colonies (i.e. sanctioned by the French crown) and some private initiatives. This grassroots presence served for further attempts to consolidate the French positions in Portuguese America. Good relations with the indigenous population were the key to the very possibility to remain in this region. Everyday communication was concentrated on the barter; both French and Indians appreciated and considered it as profitable deal. Such barter engendered its proper rules and a kind of “local etiquette”; both French and Indians paid attention to respect it and to turn it to their profit.