Acarau

The Acaraú River reaches the Atlantic coast through a delta of channels and wetlands in northern Ceará. The Tremembé inhabited the delta before Portuguese colonisation, fishing and living along a coast of dunes and tidal waters. Inland, the river flows through the dry country that became known as the sertão.

Portuguese settlement advanced along the river during the seventeenth century. The Portuguese also established coastal posts and organised Indigenous mission villages after the Dutch withdrew in 1654. In the eighteenth century cattle raising and the production of dried beef became important in the Acaraú valley, as land grants and new settlements extended colonial occupation inland. The growth of ranching brought disputes over land already occupied by Indigenous communities, while missions sought to gather and govern them.