Frontier Politics: French, Portuguese and Amerindian Alliances between the Amazon and Cayenne, 1680–1697

Abstract

While the territory we know today as Guyane was in the end claimed by France, initial attempts to establish a colony there were unsuccessful for several reasons. Highly significant amongst these reasons were the attacks made by indigenous people on settlements which were already precarious. In interdisciplinary studies of the Guianese plateau, Neil Whitehead, Stéphen Rostain, Pierre Grenand and Françoise Grenand—amongst others—have discussed processes of tribalisation and the degree of influence that indigenous warfare had on the establishment and development of European enclaves in the region. Following and building on this existing research as well as drawing upon archival sources, this chapter addresses a small number of specific ‘frontier’ contacts, wars and alliances between different indigenous groups, the French and the Portuguese. By exploring these cases, the chapter sheds light on the negotiations of power that took place in the area over time. It addresses the question of how alliances changed over time depending on interests and circumstances. Rather than using these cases to define the ‘colonial frontier’ between Portugal and France in northeast South America, its aim is to focus on the degree and power of negotiation that the different indigenous groups had on territorial control.