De inimigos a aliados: como parte dos missioneiros repensou o seu passado de conflitos com os portugueses no contexto das tentativas de demarcação do tratado de Madri

Abstract

The Guarani Indians, inhabitants of the Thirty Missions of the Paraguay River Basin, were characterized by the historiography as historical enemies of the Portuguese due to the attacks of the Bandeirantes mercenaries to their missions in the 17th century. During the negotiations of establishing the border between Spanish and Portuguese America in the Treaty of Madrid, though, a faction of the inhabitants of the Missions sealed alliances with the Portuguese, stimulated by a series of advantages offered by the latter, Such advan-tages were based on policies originated at the Royal Court of Lisbon, formulated by the then Secretary of State for War and Foreign Affairs, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo. This article aims to analyze the interactions between the Portuguese and the Guarani Indians in that context, emphasizing the reformulations of their history elaborated by the Mission Indians themselves.