O CORPO INDÍGENA E O MAQUÍNICO COMO ATRAÇÃO POPULAR: “CHEFE BOTOCUDO, MULHER E CRIANÇA” NOS PALCOS BRITÂNICOS, 1821-1823.

In the years of 1821, 1822 and 1823, three Brazilian indigenous individuals were exhibited in the main cities in Great Britain and Ireland. A show titled Botocudo Chieftain, Wife and Child displayed a couple of indigenous Brazilian Botocudos and a 2- year-old from the Puris ethnicity. The spectacle drew a large audience to a stage where the “exotic and wild Botocudos” were presented alongside “rare birds” and a machine. By sourcing from newspapers of the period, this analysis not only reconstitutes such presentations, but also problematises the juxtaposition of the indigenous body and the machine, all of which therefore promote a reflection upon the presence/absence of the mechanic apparatus in ethnographic photography and cinema. Further, there is an addendum concerning another case of a Botocudos exhibition in which they were exposed to a machine: the 1882 Brazilian Anthropological Exhibition of the National Museum. This analysis is part of a broader research into exhibitions of indigenous Brazilians in human zoos and how such exhibitions relate to the cinema and photography of the period. Throughout the 19 th Century, human zoos were a format of mass entertainment which featured re-enactments of an exotic way of living. The non-western troupes that featured in such exhibitions travelled to a great number of cities and performed in a variety of venues such as circuses, theatres, fairs and zoos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]