Hans Staden was a mercenary who was born in Homberg, Germany, and came to Brazil on two voyages during 1548 and 1549. Hans Staden's second voyage became known because of the nine months he was prisoner of the Tupinambá Indians . During this period as a prisoner, Hans Staden left a valuable record about the anthropophagic rituals (cannibalism rituals) of the indigenous people.
Hans Staden, who came to Brazil in search of riches, recorded his experiences after returning to Germany in a book published in 1557. Hans's book Staden is known as “Two Trips to Brazil”, but the original name of Hans Staden’s work is “True Story and description of a land of savages, naked and cruel human-eaters, situated in the New World of America, unknown before and after Jesus Christ in the lands of Hessen until the last two years, since Hans Staden, from Homberg, in Hessen, knew it from his own experience, and who now brings this impression to the public” .
Hans Staden's Travels
Hans Staden's voyages took place between 1548 and 1549, therefore, at a time when the Portuguese colonization from Brazil was still quite shy. The exploitation of pau-brasil was basically the major economic activity of the period and, at that time, Portugal was implementing the General Government . The Portuguese presence was located only on the coast, in small towns.
Reports from this period show the first contacts with the indigenous people and the hostility of some of these peoples. However, it is necessary to consider that the reports of Europeans about the indigenous people are loaded with religious morals and their ethnocentric vision.
First Trip
The first trip of Hans Staden happened in the first half of 1548, aboard a Portuguese ship that came to Brazil with commercial objectives, however, if this ship saw French vessels, it had orders to attack. This was because, according to the Treaty of Tordesillas, part of the American continent had been determined as Portuguese possession. Thus, any other country that was in Portuguese lands would be considered an invader. Hans Staden's role on this expedition was that of gunner.
On this first trip, Hans Staden was in Pernambuco, but had to return to Portugal after the ship that was being damaged in battle against a French ship. They arrived in Lisbon in October 1548.
Second Trip
The second trip by Hans Staden took place shortly after Easter 1549, aboard a Spanish ship that set sail from Seville. The objective was to go to the mouth of the Rio de la Plata to reach the lands of Peru.
On the second voyage, Hans Staden reported that they were forced to disembark on the island of Santa Catarina after a storm. On the island of Santa Catarina, they waited for the other two ships to appear (the ships were lost during the storm). After the arrival of the second ship (the third never appeared), Hans Staden said that preparations were made to continue the voyage, however, one more misfortune happened:the main ship sank (Staden did not give details of how this happened). P>
After living for two years on the island of Santa Catarina, Hans Staden said that they decided to leave on the ship that was left for São Vicente, but the ship crashed into the rocks and also shipwrecked off the coast of São Vicente. There, Hans Staden was invited by the Portuguese to work as a gunner in the defense of the Bertioga fort.
Hans Staden worked for two years as a gunner at Fort Bertioga. There the Portuguese fought against the Tupinambás. Staden was captured by the Tupinambá Indians after entering the dense forest to hunt. He was considered an enemy of the Tupinambás for being with the Portuguese.
The Tupinambás, in general, killed their prisoners in anthropophagy rituals, also known as cannibalism rituals. The Tupinambás' belief was that, by eating their opponent, they would be appropriating their qualities. From that moment on, Hans Staden lived for nine months as a prisoner. He was attacked many times and constantly threatened with death in an anthropophagy ritual. He reported wars between tribes and left many details of the Tupinambá culture.
After those nine months, Hans Staden was released by the French, who negotiated with the natives for the liberation of the German. William de Moner, captain of Catherine de Vatteville, was responsible for negotiating the release of Hans Staden. He arrived in Europe on February 20, 1555, in the city of Honfleur, France.
Excerpts from Hans Staden's account
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About the two years he lived on the island of Santa Catarina:
We spent two years in the wild and overcame many dangers. We were very hungry, we had to eat lizards and field mice and other unknown animals that we could catch, also animals with shells that clung to stones in the water and other strange foods. At first the natives brought us a lot of food, until they got us a lot of objects in return. Then most moved elsewhere|1| .
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About their capture by the Tupinambás:
As I was walking in the forest, loud screams erupted from both sides of the trail, as is common among wildlings. The men came towards me and I recognized that they were wildlings. They surrounded me, directed bows and arrows at me and fired. So I cried out, "God help my soul!" I had not even finished these words, they beat me and pushed me to the ground, shot and speared me. They hurt me – God be praised – only in one leg, but they took my clothes off my body, one of them my coat, another my hat, the third my shirt, and so on|2| .
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About the threats you received from the indigenous people:
In the interior of the caiçara the women threw themselves on me, hit me with their fists, ripped my beard and said in their language:“Xe nama poepika aé!”, “with this blow I avenge the man who was killed by your friends.”
Then they took me to the hut where I had to lie in a hammock, and once again the women came and beat me, pulled my hair out and showed me menacingly as they intended to eat me|3| .
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Hans Staden's description of the indigenous people:
“They are beautiful people of body and stature, both male and female, just like the people here, except that they are tanned by the sun, for they are all naked, young and old, and they also don't bring anything in the pubic parts|4| ”
|1| STADEN, Hans. Two trips to Brazil:first records about Brazil. Porto Alegre:L&PM, 2011, p.51-52.
|2| Ditto, p. 61-62.
|3| Ditto, p. 69.
|4| Ditto, p. 140.
by Daniel Neves
Graduate in History