Rethinking the Amazon Frontier in the Seventeenth Century: The Violent Deaths of the Missionaries Luis Figueira and Francisco Pires

Abstract

Abstract This article analyzes the violent deaths of two Jesuit missionaries in the regions of Marajó (Pará) and the Itapecuru River (Maranhão). Their tragic end serves as a starting point through which one can explore the social relations that took place between Europeans and native peoples on the Amazonian frontier during the mid-seventeenth century. Although colonial records suggest the presence of inevitable conflicts and cultural division within these regions, this article instead emphasizes the long-standing communication between Europeans and natives at the frontier. Their multifaceted interactions included violence and negotiations for peace, a social dynamic that is also explored in this article in order to offer new insights on the deaths of the Jesuit missionaries.