You scouts they were transformed into symbols of São Paulo about 100 years ago by an intellectual, cultural and political movement to save what would have been the heroic image of São Paulo as a pioneer country responsible for Brazil’s territorial expansion. The idea was to distinguish the role of the state from others that have more important economic and historical significance in the country, as experts pointed out. state…

In the 17th century, the Bandeyrants, who were called Paulists or Sertanists, conducted expeditions funded by large traders and landowners in search of minerals, the indigenous population was enslaved, and the enslaved people fled. Sometimes they even invaded Jesuit missions, looking for indigenous people to kidnap, so much so that they were considered mercenaries and in fear.

“(Thanks to bandeirante) It was a way to surpass other capitals. Sao Paulo was poorer, there were no churches, fortresses, but there were these “heroes”, ”explains the historian and professor at the Paulista Museum. Paulo Garces Marins… “It was a kind of response from artists, intellectuals and politicians extolling São Paulo’s colonial past. And it was from this imaginary construction that the pioneer was born, who will take on the image of the hero. “

Professor of the Department of History of Unesp, Paulo Enrique Martinez he explains that although the violence, crime and economic interests of the pioneers were “well known,” these facts were left aside in efforts to preserve the memory of this group. “There is no reason why, on the eve of the centenary of Contemporary Art Week and the bicentennial of independence, this imaginary bandeirism survived and has the social roots that it has to this day, as it induces and legitimizes prohibitive practices, oppression and social violence.”

For nearly 100 years, the names of Fernand Diaz, Anhanguer, Raposo Tavares, Borba Gato and others have been placed on monuments, roads, highways, and even in the palace of the state government. However, such a tribute has been the subject of criticism in recent years, especially in São Paulo.

One of the main targets of criticism is the statue of Borba Gato in the southern part of the city of São Paulo, which was set on fire on Saturday, 24, and the site of protests on other occasions. It pays homage to Manuel de Borba Gato, a pioneer born in 1674 in the region where the Santo Amaro district is today.

Borba Gato was the son-in-law of another pioneer leader, Fernand Dias, and he died around 1717, when he was an ordinary judge at Vila Real de Sabara. He took part in expeditions inland and even fled after being accused of assassinating the general manager of the mines, D. Rodrigo de Castelo Blanco, between 1682 and 1700, when he received a royal pardon and was appointed. the chief of the guard of the Rio das Velhas district.

In addition, he was the founder of Vila Real de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Sabarabussu (the current mining municipality of Sabara) in 1711, one of the main producers of gold for the Portuguese crown. He was also one of the leaders of the Emboabas War (1707-1709), in which, together with other immigrants from São Paulo, he demanded exclusive exploration for ore in the Minas Gerais region, lost to the Portuguese.

A statue in his honor in São Paulo was unveiled in January 1963, already amid criticism (mainly aesthetic) during the celebration of the 4th century of Santo Amaro. On this day, people also paraded, dressed as pioneers and indigenous people, with carts drawn by oxen, canoes and other figurative elements.

The work was commissioned about six years earlier by the state government to artist Julio Guerra, who used concrete, tram tracks, and colored basalt and marble stones. It is about 13 meters high and weighs 20 tons and stands on a pedestal covered with rustic granite.

In addition to a fire last Saturday, the monument was targeted in 2020 for an intervention in which fake skulls were placed in its vicinity. Four years ago, he got inked during an action that also included a flag monument in the vicinity of Ibirapuera Park.

Save. Historian Paulo Garces Marins explains that all the monuments, paintings and the like that helped create the imagination of the Bandeiris were made without any historical references, images or documents indicating the type of clothing and appearance of these figures. Among these elements that have become standard are the wide-brimmed hat, high boots, doublet, beard and European features that are even present in the statue of Borba Gato.

“Museum of Sao Paulo (better known as Ipiranga) it takes place in the consolidation of the image that we recognize as a bandeirante, commissioned by paintings and sculptures made by fez, ”he comments. These orders were mainly made by Affonso Taunay, who had been in charge of the Paulista Museum since 1917 and one of the possible creators of the term “bandeirante”. Among them, for example, “Cyclo da Caça ao Indio” by Enrique Bernardelli, in which Bandeirante appears in an imposing pose in the middle of the forest in front of the indigenous people.

Unesp history professor Paulo Henrique Martinez explains that the most alleged rescue of the pioneers was led by a group that emerged from Contemporary Art Week 22, known as Green and yellow movement or Escola da Anta with nationalist values. It was led by Menotti del Picchia, Cassiano Ricardo, Candido Mota Filho, Alfredo Elis and Pliniu Salgado, the most radical representatives of the group and the creator of the integralist movement of the fascists.

One of the ways to perpetuate the heroic image of the pioneers was precisely the pictorial image in paintings and large statues. “Alfredo Alice believed that the pioneers were giants and, therefore, colonies from São Paulo, and then the entire nation,” comments the professor.

“This group of” greens and yellows “, despite the fact that they lost the controversy in the aesthetic and artistic field (directed by Mario and Oswald de Andrade)victorious in the historical and interpretive field of history, in the symbolic depiction of the history of São Paulo, created by great conquerors, physical giants, giants of the soul, giants of ambition, ”he comments.

“And we could add: giants of violence, giants of greed …” – concludes the professor. Martinez explains that the construction of the Bandeirante monument has received government support from the 1920s until recently, which explains the alleged presence in the names of public places, monuments and the like.

To a large extent, it strengthened during social and political crises, in response to the strengthening of workers, class and trade union movements, as in the 20s, 50s and 60s of the last century. For example, during the unveiling of the statue of Borba Gato, the country witnessed the strengthening of peasant unions, the growth of student and labor movements, and voting in a plebiscite under the national government system.

Culture houses for honoring Girl Scouts were renamed into SP

At least two of the municipal cultural spaces that make up the City Museum have been renamed, and references to Bandeirantes have been removed over the past two years. Casa Sertanista was renamed Casa Caxingui and Casa Bandeirante is now known as Casa Butantã. At the time, the municipal secretary for culture, Ale Youssef, defended the more modernist and less innovative São Paulo.