Ajuricaba (Indigenous)

Ajuricaba
Portrait of Chief Ajuricaba leading warriors against invading Portuguese forces
Born	c. Aldeia de Mariuá (today Barcelos, Amazonas)
Died	c. 1728, Amazon River
Nationality	Brazilian indigenous
Occupation	Indigenous leadership

Ajuricaba (???? — c. 1728) was a leader of the Manaos indigenous nation in the early 18th century. He rebelled against the colonizers, refusing to serve as a slave where he became a symbol of resistance and freedom. Born in Amazonian lands, spent many years away from the tribe, but was forced to return to the conviviality of the others after the murder of his father by the hands of the invaders. The native vowed revenge and sought out the Dutch — who were also enemies of Portugal — to put his plan into practice. The Manaos had allied themselves with the Dutch in Guyana. Ajuricaba, in an act considered an ostensible challenge to Portuguese sovereignty in the region, even carried a Dutch flag in his canoe. The Portuguese in the Amazon feared that other indigenous peoples as well as black slaves in the region would follow the example of the Manaos, thus paving the way for a Dutch invasion of the Amazon River valley, or opening a riot for a possible general revolt against the Lusitanian crown, forcing them into a direct conflict, a war they called of "guerra justa" (just war).^[1]