German Science, Brazilian Indians, and National Identity: The Role of Hermann von Ihering in the Discourse on Indian Protection in Brazil, 1905–10

This paper looks at the role of German-born scientist Hermann von Ihering in the debates on Indian protection in São Paulo in the early twentieth century. This discourse was at the juncture of networks and individuals involved in indigenous and immigrant rights in Brazil and speaks to the interconnectedness of epistemic communities, scientific racism, and nation-building processes. Many Brazilian activists challenged the views of von Ihering, who was the director of the Paulista Museum at a time when German anthropology dominated in Brazil. Discussions about the fate of Brazilian Indians thus offer insights into the complicated nature of trans-Atlantic scientific networks, political activism, and the shaping of national identity.

In contrast to von Ihering, who was trained in physical anthropology and believed indigenous peoples to be inferior, most Brazilian activists saw them as integral to the nation’s identity and argued that they should be shielded from the impact of territorial expansion and industrial development. Inspired by the trans-Atlantic activism of Czech ethnologist Alberto Frič, who spoke out on behalf of Indians at the Sixteenth International Congress of Americanists in Vienna in 1908, Brazilian advocates stepped up their efforts to place Brazil’s Indians under federal protection. They achieved their goal in 1910 with the creation of Brazil’s first Indian Protection Service (Serviço de Proteção aos Indios).

The discourse in the years leading up to the Indian Protection Service involved scientific as well as political networks. When von Ihering entered the debate he alienated many of his Brazilian colleagues by arguing that German immigrants, and not Brazilian Indians, deserved greater protection of the Brazilian government. Brazilian activists subsequently framed the debate of Indian protection in opposition to von Ihering and his “imported foreign science,” thereby making German science and German immigration in Brazil central to the development of Brazil’s Indian policy.