Country: Brazil
Group: Indian-Indigenous
Date: 11/13/2020
Team: Thomas Chia (lead), Arisha Khan, Alexa Hager
Content Warning: colonization, slavery, war, disease
Approximate Time Period: 1500-1888
The Indigenous Brazilians have faced forced labor in the past although there is very limited information on the group in general. Of the few instances we found regarding forced labor, most came from colonial times (1500 – 1815), and we rated evidence a 1.
Indigenous Brazilians, a once much larger of a group in the country, have had their numbers greatly decreased due to the effects of colonization such as warfare and disease (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2020). As a result, today, the indigenous population of Brazil is less than 7 percent of what it was in 1500 (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2020). Only about 305 tribes remain today compared to the estimated 2,000 in pre-colonial times before the arrival of the Portuguese (Minority Rights, 2020). Before colonial times, it was common for tribes to enslave members of other tribes after warfare (Skidmore, 1999). During the colonization of the country, the Indigenous population could be seen in the agricultural workforce, while living in colonial villages and working for the local authorities (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2020). Over 60,000 Indigenous Brazilians were subjected to forced labor due to this process of working for local authorities during colonial times (Skidmore, 1999).
Sources:
- Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2020). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved November 6, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/bandeira
- Skidmore, Thomas E. (1999). Brazil: Five Centuries of Change. New York: Oxford UP.