Paper short abstract:

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Paper long abstract:

I will explore the importance of the idea of indigeneity in relation to my experience living in one of the largest Brazilian slums (favelas), in Rio de Janeiro. Indigeneity will be taken in relation to "ontological" categories that attempt to give meaning to relationships in a place that gathers people perceived to be as diverse as African slave descendants, migrants from the Brazilian northeast, gringos (often as tourists), and Cariocas. Ethnographic material will be used to argue that the complexities of the relationships established among these varied groups may easily make people acquire a different sort of indigeneity accordingly to contextual changes. The idea of "the indigenous" is central to many concepts encountered during fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro - such as: "cria" of the hillside, "carioca da gema", "paraiba", "matesco", and "cerioca". In the favela scene, however, different encounters may give rise to different indigenous subjects.