Pre-Columbian inquiry (the subject of the inquiry, not the inquiry itself).

Started by FierceKitty, 21 June 2024, 05:09:35 AM

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FierceKitty

This is a long shot, but does anyone know if there was any interaction between the Tupi and the Incas?
I don't drink coffee to wake up. I wake up to drink coffee.

Big Insect

Quote from: FierceKitty on 21 June 2024, 05:09:35 AMThis is a long shot, but does anyone know if there was any interaction between the Tupi and the Incas?

As far as I am aware - no.

The Tupi were mainly located on the eastern seaboard of modern day Brazil. Whilst the Inca were on the other side of the continent. The Inca appear to have interacted with some Amazonian tribes, where the Amazonian jungle edged up against the eastern foothills of the Andes mountain range, but no contact with the Tupi.
According to various Portuguese sailors and missionaries, whilst the Tupi were semi-nomadic this was within a fairly limited geographical area and subject to resource pressures and the activities of competing Tupi tribes.
 
The Wargames Foundry book on South America (sadly out of print) is very good, and I use it as a very reliable secondary source and a 'pointer' towards interesting primary sources.

Cheers
Mark
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

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FierceKitty

Ta. What I've managed to find has tended to sing the same song, but some maps seem to suggest a scattered distribution all the way up to the Ecuador region.
I don't drink coffee to wake up. I wake up to drink coffee.

Big Insect

Quote from: FierceKitty on 21 June 2024, 09:28:54 AMTa. What I've managed to find has tended to sing the same song, but some maps seem to suggest a scattered distribution all the way up to the Ecuador region.

That is probably also correct, as we (modern wargamers) tend to want things lumped into convenient and easy to grasp packages (I am no exception to this). My understanding is that the tribes we call Tupi were in fact a host of various and differing tribes, many of which had no real ethnic relationship to each other. We & the early Portuguese settlers/sailors/traders have lumped them together under the catch all label of 'Tupi' and they may have even extended as far north as the Caribbean apparently.
The differences between some of the Amazonian tribes and the coastal Tupi was probably actually very minor from a military perspective. Both using a long(ish) bow and fighting in hand-to-hand combat with hardwood clubs and some spears or darts. Similarly, their customs were probably very similar, with both having cannibalistic behaviours (to a greater or lesser extent) and 'clothing' was either very minimal or non-existent, with body-paint, tattooing, skin-carving (scarification) and the application of feathers and body piercings being common to both.

So there might well be some 'Tupi' type or looki-likey tribes in or near Ecuador. :)
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "outside of the box" thinking.

FierceKitty

The body paint is a significant part of the appeal.
Thanks for the answer.
I don't drink coffee to wake up. I wake up to drink coffee.

Big Insect

One day I'll learn how to post photos easily to the forum - as I have a 28mm Tupi painted and based that I use for the ADLG rules. They are a mix of very nice Copplestone Castings and Foundry figures, with plastic aquarium plants on the bases. I have a couple of Alligators lurking in the shrubbery as my ambush markers. Hence all the research.
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "outside of the box" thinking.