Abstract

In this study we organize information contained in the licenses granted to Portuguese colonists to carry out private ransoms (resgates) and descents (descimentos) in the state of Maranhão e Grão-Pará during the colonial period. Analyzing them together with the economic and social events and the legislation of this period, we seek to grasp the evolution of the recruitment system of Indian workers in the Amazon region, especially during the first half of the eighteenth century.

Keywords
Indigenous legislation; Native American labor; Amazon region