Goitacá
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The Goitacá (or Goytacazes, among other variant spellings "Waytaquazes" "Ouetacá", "Waitaká") were an
Indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
of
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. They are now extinct. The Goitacá were a "Tapuia" (i.e. non- Tupi) people, one of the few that still remained on the Tupi-dominated coast. They were said to be taller and lighter-skinned than the Tupi. Their name may stem from ''guatá'', the Tupi word for "wayfarer" or "runner".


History

In the 16th century, the Goitacá inhabited a large stretch of the eastern Brazilian coast, from the São Mateus River to the
Paraíba do Sul The Paraíba do Sul (), or simply Paraíba, is a river in southeast Brazil. It flows west to northeast from its farthest source at the source of the river Paraitinga to the sea near Campos dos Goytacazes. The river receives its name when it m ...
River, encompassing what is now the
state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...
of
Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...
and part of
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
state. They are estimated to have numbered 12,000. Unlike their Tupi neighbors, the Goitacá were
hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...
people. Their diet consisted primarily of fruits, roots, honey and engaged in a substantial amount of hunting (they were said to be masters of the bow and arrow). They were also one of the few coastal indigenous populations to also engage in fishing as a major activity, and were renowned for their skill in capturing
shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...
s in shallows. While colonizers wrongly presumed the Goitacá were "superstitious" about water sources, their practice of drinking water only from freshly-dug
well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
s, and never from streams or rivers, was based on their knowledge of how to avoid water-borne illness. The Goitacá painted themselves with dyes from the genipapo fruit and adorned themselves and their objects with bird feathers, but otherwise went around naked. They did not cut their hair, but let it grow into long manes, shaving only a small circle in the front. They had a degree of craftsmanship in clay and bamboo, and made bows and arrows, stone axes, rafts and fishing nets made of fiber and coir. The Goitacá were divided into three general rival hordes, the ''Goitacá-guassu'', the ''Goitacá-moppi'' and the ''Goitacá-jacoritô''. They are said to have fought each other incessantly, and that the "guassu" (meaning "great") were the more numerous and dominant of the three. The Goitacá had a fearsome reputation as fierce and cruel warriors, characterized by English adventurer Anthony Knivet (c. 1597) as "the most odious people of the Universe". The Europeans also alleged that they engaged in
cannibal Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecology, ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well ...
ism. But contemporary European commentators claimed that while the Tupi ate purely out of ritual, the Goitacá, as alleged by Simão de Vasconcellos, ate for pleasure, having acquired a taste for human flesh. There is little or no information about the elusive Goitacá beyond these early accounts and allegations, mostly derived by hearsay from their neighbors or fearful colonists, rather than direct familiarity. As Fr. Vicente do Salvador wrote in his 1627 account, "These and other incredible things that are told about these people, believe as you will, because no man who was once in their power, has yet returned with his life to tell about it." The negative descriptions of the Goitacá, as found in the early writings, are maybe quite unjust. A shy people, the Goitacá avoided all interaction or contact with European colonists. They did, however, engage in
barter In trade, barter (derived from ''bareter'') is a system of exchange (economics), exchange in which participants in a financial transaction, transaction directly exchange good (economics), goods or service (economics), services for other goods ...
trade with them, principally by leaving their trade goods in a clearing, and then falling back and watching from a distance as the colonists picked up the goods and dropped off theirs. Their principal trade items were honey, wax, fish, game and fruits, which they bartered for iron goods like sickles, brandy and beads. With the 1534 partition of
colonial Brazil Colonial Brazil (), sometimes referred to as Portuguese America, comprises the period from 1500, with the Discovery of Brazil, arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves ...
into separate hereditary captaincies, the large Goitacá territory came under three captaincies:
Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...
,
São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Álv ...
and São Vicente. Nothing was attempted in the latter, but colonial settlements were erected in the first two in 1535-36. The natives ignored the Portuguese at first, but after a couple of thoughtless
slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
raids by the colonists, the Goitacá overran and destroyed the colonies in the 1540s. After repeated assaults, the São Tomé captain Pêro de Góis finally gave up the enterprise and abandoned Brazil. Vasco Fernandes Coutinho, captain of Espírito Santo, held on only by transferring his colony to the defensible island of Vitória. By their belligerence, the Goitacá managed to keep their lands free of European colonies for some time, and it is said their dominions were sanctuaries for European criminals and fugitives, who knew the colonial authorities would not chase after them there. But colonial pressure would not stay its hand for long - particularly as the Goitacá dominions blocked the path between the growing southern colonies like
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
and eastern colonies like
Salvador da Bahia Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...
. Seeing no way to encroach on their land peacefully, a campaign of extermination against the Goitacá was launched. Initially these were manhunts by the Portuguese colonists (one of which Knivet participated and described), but soon became more systematic, e.g. by leaving poisoned brandy and smallpox-diseased blankets to be picked up by the Goitacá.Feydit, 1900
p.17
/ref> As the campaigns advanced, the Goicatá retreated away from the coast and deeper into the interior. By the late 18th century, the bulk were practically exterminated, and remaining survivors gradually merged into other tribes. The
Campos dos Goytacazes Campos dos Goytacazes () is a city located in the northern region of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, with a population of 483,540 inhabitants. It is the largest city in Rio de Janeiro (state) outside of the Greater Rio de Janeiro metropolitan ar ...
municipality in the state of
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
is named after them.


Notes


References


p.8
* Mendes do Santos, editor (2003) ''Un aventurier anglais au Brésil: les tribulations d'Anthony Knivet (1591)'' Paris: Chandeigne. * Métraux, A. (1928) "Les Indiens Waitaka: à propos d'un manuscrit inédit du cosmographe André Thevet", ''Journal de la Société des américanistes'', vol. 21, p. 107-126 * Teixeira de Mello, J.A. (1886) "Campos dos Goycatazes em 1881" ''Revista trimensal do Instituto Historico, Geographico e Ethnographico do Brazil'', vol. 49, (2
p.5ff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goitaca people Extinct Indigenous peoples in Brazil Cannibalism in South America