Salesian boarding schools for Indigenous children on the Rio Negro, Amazonas: mother tongues banned, rituals forbidden, food withheld as punishment

In their missions in the Amazon region the Salesians ran boarding schools for Indigenous children. A historical study of 1923 to 1965 names as means the suppression of mother tongues, separation from their own culture and compulsory Portuguese. The Salesians forbade rituals, which broke the handing down of the elders' knowledge. A Tuyuka, himself a Salesian priest, describes for the 1970s in Pari-Cachoeira how children speaking their language were reported by classmates and lost meals as punishment. According to the study, the assessment of the schools is disputed.

Period

1923-1979 (56 years)

Country

Brazil

Institutions

Salesians of Don Bosco

Category

Colonialism

Level of evidence

B two independent scholarly sources · what does this mean?

Background

Course of events

1. The study of the Salesian boarding schools in Amazonas from 1923 to 1965 identifies as strategies of everyday boarding life the suppression of native languages, sociocultural segregation and the imposition of Portuguese in a multilingual setting.
   Evidence: Sociedade Brasileira de História da Educação, S. 1

   „interdição das línguas nativas“

2. The Salesians taught the children that their own language hindered the learning of Portuguese. An index card was kept on each pupil in which disparagement outweighed praise; it also served as the basis for expulsions.
   Evidence: Sociedade Brasileira de História da Educação, S. 14

   „as depreciações sobre a pessoa do“

   Evidence: Sociedade Brasileira de História da Educação, S. 14

   „obrigação de aprender o“

   Evidence: Sociedade Brasileira de História da Educação, S. 14

   „a expulsão de alunos“

3. For the 1970s in Pari-Cachoeira a Tuyuka and later Salesian priest reports from his own experience: from 1973 pupils were required to speak only Portuguese. Anyone speaking an Indigenous language was reported by classmates and lost meals as punishment or had to chop wood. Ceremonies were forbidden, and the holders of knowledge were regarded as agents of the devil.
   Evidence: Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, S. 93

   „de falar somente a língua portuguesa“

   Evidence: Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, S. 93

   „momentos: almoço, jantar, o mingau“

   Evidence: Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, S. 93

   „nossos próprios colegas denunciavam“

See also

• 1609-1621 · 12 years

  Peru from 1609: After the denunciations of the priest Francisco de Ávila, the campaign against indigenous "idolatry" begins with an auto da fé, whipping and burning of mummies

  • Peru
  • Colonialism
  • Persecution

Scholarly literature and reference works

1. Scholarly literature
   Sociedade Brasileira de História da Educação: Mauro Gomes da Costa: A institucionalização e o disciplinamento de crianças indígenas nas missões salesianas do Amazonas/Brasil (1923-1965), in: Revista Brasileira de História da Educação 21 (2021), 1 January 2021. Original (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)
2. Scholarly literature
   Universidade Católica Dom Bosco: Justino Sarmento Rezende: Transformação da vida de um menino tuyuka no internato salesiano de Pari-Cachoeira, in: Tellus 18 (2018), S. 89-104, 1 January 2018. Original (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)

Last changed on 31 October 2026. Is something missing or wrong? Suggest an addition or correction.