The journal of Lourens Lourenszoon and his 1618-1625 stay among the Arocouros on the lower Cassipore River, northern Amapa Sate, Brazil

Abstract

The journal of Lourens Lourenszoon is a brief original description of his observations of seven years among the Arocouro Indians. He gives a detailed description of his stay among these Indians and their way of life. The arrival of many European traders on the Guiana coasts at the beginning of the 17th century form the starting point of intensive trading activities between European seafarers and South American Indians at the lower Oyapock River. European-made ware and tools from this early historic period have been found at late precolonial and protohistoric archaeological sites forming archaeological evidence of contacts between the Dutch and the Indian tribes of what is now eastern French Guiana and northern Amapá state, in Brazil. The journal of Lourens Lourenszoon mentions that various Indian tribes are part of a political alliance under the leadership of the Arocouros. Eventually, this alliance vanished during the 17th century due to continuing warfare and decimation of several ethnic groups. The remnants of these populations grouped together and gave birth to the present day Palikur.

Keywords

• Cassipore River
• Arocouros
• Amapa
• 17th Century
• Ethnohistory
• Dutch colonial history