The Villas Boas Brothers and Anthropologists

Authors

John Hemming, Independent Scholar

Keywords

Xingu Park, History, Anthropological field research, Brazil, Indigenous Peoples

Abstract

This paper describes the history of the Villas Boas brothers of Brazil and their role in establishing and administering the 26,000-square-kilometer Xingu Indigenous Park in the Amazonian state of Mato Grosso. Many anthropologists came to work in the Park during the Villas Boas brothers’ decades-long residence there. The paper details some of the unique features of the Park that shaped fieldwork conditions and describes the relations between anthropologists and the brothers. Despite some skeptics, the great majority of anthropologists expressed a positive assessment of the brothers’ work. The article includes an appendix listing the anthropologists who worked in the Park and the dates of their research.

Recommended Citation

Hemming, John (2021). "The Villas Boas Brothers and Anthropologists", Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America: Vol. 17: Iss. 1, Article 4, 45-51.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/tipiti/vol17/iss1/4