Os grupos nativos e a morfologia da conquista na América Portuguesa

By putting in dialogue the indigenous history and the history of urbanism – normally addressed separately – this article intends to present the indigenous action as one of the most important, if not the main, explanatory factors on the morphology of the european conquest in Portuguese America, in this case thought as the spaces that were effectively occupied in the form of vilas and cidades. To examine this statement, chronicles were used, one of the 16th century, the other of the 17th and the last one of the 18th century, evaluating the dynamics of this occupation throughout time. A evaluation of some regional cases was made based on a recent historiographie centered on the value that indigenous groups had in the process of european occupation, considering its multiple possibilities of action in different regions. Lastly, aggregated data on the establishment of vilas was compared with information on the sighting of natives over the course of the colonial period, demonstrating the strong relation between both processes.