The only “medicine and sustenance of the State of Maranhão”: The salt and the Indians in Maracanã (1655-1691)

Abstract

This article aims to demonstrate the use of indigenous labor in the state of Maranhão and Pará, in particular the work in the production of salt carried by the Indians of Maracana Village, taking into account the participation of these Indians as historical subjects in the colonization process. In addition to a discussion about the indigenous labor in Cologne, the text aims to contribute to the understanding of a specific dynamic in the state of Maranhão, taking into consideration the production and supply of salt as axis to understand the mulltifaced relations that occurred in that region.