Chapitre 4 CONTACT INTERETHNIQUE ET ÉPIDÉMIES AU BRÉSIL

Abstract

The devastating impact of epidemics of infectious diseases on Amerindians was principally attributed by F.L. Black (1992, 1994) to the high degree of biological homogeneity of these people. This hypothesis does not explain, however, the differential demographic and sanitary impact of epidemics on these populations. In fact, other factors related to the physical and social environment of the disease and to the European policies adopted toward the native populations must be considered in order to reveal the causes of the extinction or of the demographic collapse of numerous indigenous people in Brazil or in other countries of the Americas.