Aimberê and the Tamoios Confederation

Those who disembark at the boats station in Niterói, can not fail to notice a great statue of Araribóia, head of the temiminós and great ally of the Portuguese. On the other side of the Guanabara Bay, however, there is no monument to the great leader of the Tamoios Confederation, Aimberê, whose bravery and military genius threatened the existence of the Portuguese colony in southern Brazil.

The Tamoios Confederation was the first experience of a broad front against the Portuguese presence in Brazil in the year 1500. This movement brought together, besides Tupinambá Indians, who were the majority, the members of the Goitacazes, Aimorés and other minor tribes in the area from Bertioga (São Paulo) to Cabo Frio (Rio de Janeiro).

The origin of the name of the confederation is a tribute to a small tribe of the Tupinambas nation, which had that name and was very fierce and full of malice, quite sacrificed in the struggle against the peró, as the Portuguese were known by the Indians. Then his name was given to the movement that grouped several tribes, besides the fact that Tamoio also means "owner of the earth".

Aimberê was the great political articulator, visiting the chiefs of tribes, summoning them to a meeting in the ocara¹ of Gávea (RJ), in 1563. There they discussed issues related to the problem of leadership and war plans. Among the leaders present were several Tupinambás, such as Pindobuçu, Coaquira - from the region of Ubatuba; Jagoanharó, Cunhambebe, Araraí and Parabuçu, the chiefs of that nation. Aimberê proposed that the leadership be given to Cunhambebe, as he lived with his tribe in the region of Angra dos Reis and was the most experienced and ferocious enemy of the peró. The other chiefs agreed, though they preferred Aimberê as a leader. The new chief's first task was to confer with Villegagnon, that had just arrived to establish France Antarctique, and it seems that this meeting had a positive result, since later cannons were found in the village of Angra dos Reis.

Cunhambebe, however, had little time in the lead. The hero of so many battles against the invaders did not die fighting those who tried to enslave his people. An epidemic of plague struck his village, killing many, among them, the old chief.

Thus, a new meeting was called and Aimberê was unanimously acclaimed head of the Confederation. At the time a major action was also discussed that would further popularize the Tamoios Confederation.

In a later meeting, summoned by Coaquira, the eldest among the chiefs, he speaks of peace; not a cowardly peace, but that certain retreat must have been related to the extreme fatigue of all. However, Aimberê takes the word and also speaks of peace, but says that this would only be achieved when the Confederation became an indestructible force and feared by the Portuguese. Once this proposal was approved, envoys were sent to all tribes to the north and south, with invitations to join the Confederation. The most difficult task was left to Jagoanharó, who was in charge of convincing his uncle, Tibiriçá, chief of the Guayanas, to join the Confederation.

Tibiriçá was also an old chief who had converted to Catholicism by the Jesuits; dressed in European fashion and became an ally of the Portuguese. Jagoanharó is well received by his uncle, who hears the plans of a massive attack of the Tamoios and suggests that he be released two moons later, without, however, affirming that he agreed with the action. Returning, Jagoanharó submits the suggestion of Tibiriçá to the Council of the Confederation. Despite doubts about the sincerity of the proposal, it is approved.

On the appointed day, the Tamoios fighters depart, with Aimberê ahead, who had as auxiliaries Parabuçu, Guaixirae, Okijuba and Cunhambebe II, the latter heading a column of Goitacazes and Aimorés. When they arrive at the combined place they find Tibiriçá, who comes as the vanguard of the Portuguese to fight the Tamoios. Jagoanharó is shot down by his uncle.

In this attack, Aimberê's strategy consisted in luring the pearls to the coast and exhausting them in pursuit, leaving them uncovered and within range of the arrows. And so it happened. The victory was complete, arrows and tacapes hit the target infallibly, Tibiriçá and Fernão de Sá, the son of the governor-general, Mem de Sá, who was one of the Portuguese chiefs in the battle, died.

The Portuguese of São Paulo de Piratininga, worried by defeat, despite their superiority in arms, longed for peace with the Tamoios, and appealed to their Jesuit friends to come to them in this hour of despair. Thus, Manoel da Nobrega and José de Anchieta leave to confer with the Council of the Confederation, with the intention of negotiating a peace between natives and invaders. The Tamoios hated the Portuguese so much that they, knowing that the priests were of that nationality, refused any understanding. However, Coaquira, a prestigious chief who sympathized with the Jesuits, persuaded the other chiefs to attend the conference.

The religious said that the Portuguese wanted definitive peace and would not fail to take the word they had given. The thamoids demanded, for peace, that the traitorous indigenous leaders should be handed over to the confederation and that all the Indians made slaves by the Portuguese should be freed. The Jesuits then asked to speak with the Portuguese authorities, since they could not decide on these conditions.

Aimberê then decides that he will negotiate with the Portuguese in São Vicente, but that the Jesuits would stand as a guarantee of his return. In addition to negotiating peace, Aimberê also wanted to find and free his bride, Igaraçu, who had been imprisoned and made a slave on a farm.

The Portuguese demanded the presence of Nóbrega and Anchieta, but Aimberê answered not to trust the word of the peros, who always did not comply. The impasse was resolved with the return of Manoel da Nobrega, who ended the talks, making peace.

The indigenous chiefs who had fought alongside the Portuguese, such as Tibiriçá and Caiubi, had died, leaving the liberation of the Indians made slaves, which was done by Aimberê himself, who was returning to the meeting place with the Jesuits. Igaraçú, his fiancée, had been released at the time he was whipped by Heliodoro Eoban, who was arrested with his family and presented to Aimberê, who would later release him.

During the expedition that freed the Indians, Aimberê noted that the Portuguese defense structure would not withstand a massive attack by the Tamoios. The Portuguese were disgusted with peace, as they would have no labor for the farms, since it was easier at that time to enslave the Indians than to import blacks from Africa.

During the one-year peace period, the Confederation, with the help of the French, developed the production of fabrics in manual looms, mainly in the village of Uruçumirim (Flamengo beach), and the rearing of cattle and horses. The matrices and first looms were obtained with the members of the French colonialist adventure of France Antarctique, that came to an end. Some French, however, remained in Brazil to live with the Tamoios.

After this year of truce, the indigenous arrests resumed with greater intensity, extinguishing the possibility of peaceful coexistence in the colony. Hundreds of Indians were captured and taken to the plateau as slaves. And this year of peace was used by the Portuguese to strengthen and increase their army. Men, weapons and ammunition were brought from Portugal. Knowing this, the Tamoios prefer to use another tactic: patrols instead of columns. The war would be made according to the possibilities and expediency of the Tamoios; the minimum against the maximum. The men went out into the woods, and at night they leapt over the mills and farms of the Portuguese to destroy them, along with those who defended them. Along the course of the Paraíba river, the Tamoios followed in boats full of warriors, choosing the best place to attack, spreading panic among the Lusos. Estácio de Sá had just arrived from Lisbon with a fleet of well-armed galleons, ready to occupy Rio de Janeiro. Araribóia, ally of the Portuguese, leading the Temiminós Indians, that had brought of the Holy Spirit, would be the vanguard of the Portuguese, during the disembarkation of the troop. Subsequently, Araribóia would receive the sesmaria [land grant] of Niterói for the services rendered to Portugal and would be baptized, by the Jesuits, of Martim Afonso de Sousa, same name of the Portuguese that landed in Brazil in 1530. Knowing the bravery of Aimberê, Estacio de Sá wanted to gather the greater force. joined the men of São Vicente and Bahia, taking another year in this work of regimentation.

Some skirmishes between small groups of Tamoios and Portuguese reconnaissance missions gave the false impression of victory over the perós, but that was not what Aimberê thought. He knew that the Portuguese were already satisfied with their reconnaissance and that they would return soon.

Some French ships arrived at Cabo Frio and Aimberê sent his son-in-law Ernesto, a Frenchman, known as Guaraciaba (fire hair), as emissary to convince the Mairs, as the French were known by the Indians, to join forces with the Tamoios. The French agreed, since they knew that it was impossible to return to trade with the Indians if the Portuguese were victorious, and the plan was established: the French would enter the Bay of Guanabara with their ships, while the Indians would attack with approximately 160 canoes and 1,500 warriors .

The attack, however, was frustrated. The Portuguese defenses were more solid than the Tamoios had imagined; the French ships were easily defeated, which forced Aimberê to divert a part of its canoes in defense of the allies.

In the meantime, the Taoios were forced to retreat, a fact that was taken advantage of by the invaders. They undertook a major offensive, destroying the villages, burning the dwellings and imprisoning a large nuber of Indians.

The advantage of the Tamoios in hand-to-hand combat and surprise was annulled by the superiority in arms of the invaders and the change to a war of position was extremely unfavorable to the Confederation. The Tamoios were reduced to a narrow strip of territory, which ran from Carioca to Paranapuan (now Governador Island), where they resisted for another year.

While the Portuguese were based in the area of Cara de Cão hill, near the Sugar Loaf, Aimberê thought to fortify the village of Uruçumirim, in order to overcome the invaders by the fatigue, resisting indefinitely, which was not correct, since the Portuguese were constantly receiving reinforcements, weapons and ammunition. In this case, time did not aid the Tamoios, but the invaders.

Mem de Sá decided to come to the aid of his nephew Estácio, and joins his fleet with the one already in the bay, forming a force impossible to be overcome by the Tamoios. Knowing this, Aimberê gathers his commanders and resolves to defend his land to the death, allowing the French allies to escape if they wanted to save their lives, but all resolve to fight and die with the Tamoios.

Uruçumirim heroically resisted for 48 hours the siege of the greatly superior forces of Estácio de Sá. At the end, of January 20, 1567, all was ashes. The chiefs were gone, dying in battle and writing one of the most heroic pages of Brazil's indigenous struggles.

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1 Square in the centre of an indigenous village