Notes about the indigenous “disappearance” in the Povoação do Jardim das Piranhas (Ribeira do Piranhas, 18th and 19th centuries)

apontamentos sobre o “desaparecimento” indígena na Povoação do Jardim das Piranhas (Ribeira do Piranhas, séculos XVIII e XIX)

Abstract

Discusses the indigenous “disappearance” in the historiography about the Povoação do Jardim das Piranhas, genesis of the county of Jardim de Piranhas-RN, in the light of documentation from the 18th and 19th centuries. It uses, as sources, land concessions letters granted by the Capitania da Paraíba and the religious notes of the Freguesia da Gloriosa Senhora de Santa Ana do Seridó, preserved at the Paróquia de Santana in Caicó-RN. In the methodological approach of Quantitative and Serial History, it aligns with Carlo Ginzburg's considerations about dealing with the sources, using the onomastic method and the indicative paradigm. The study elucidated the impossibility of sustaining a narrative based on the “disappearance” of the indians, given that, even with the crumbling of the native world, the indigenous people and their remnants continued in the historical plot, through adaptations, strategies and resistance.