the indigenous and the invader: the confrontation of the indigenous peoples of brazil with the european invader, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

This article discusses the conquest and domination of the indigenous peoples of Brazil by European colonizers during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The author compares the technological development, political and administrative skills and the religious and cultural outlooks of indians and europeans on the eve of the conquest. Political, religious, and cultural factors are seen as having primary importance in accounting for the europeans´ victory over the indian population.