“Before, we didn’t eat manioc flour”: Historical and social transformations in food techniques among Indigenous Peoples of the Rio Negro basin in the Brazilian Amazon

Manioc flour is currently considered one of the main foods consumed by Indigenous peoples in the Northwest Amazon. It is fundamental both to the traditional diet and to adding an "Indigenous flavor" to urban dishes. This article presents an analysis of historical sources that position manioc flour as an important trading commodity since the 19th century and shows how its internal consumption seems to have grown in recent decades. This significance contrasts with the role of manioc flour in mythic narratives about the origin of foods, where it is either not mentioned among the Tukano peoples or referred to as "civilized food" among the Aruak (Journet 1995). Descriptions of the technical processing of manioc flour, along with the production of two types of beiju (a flat bread), indicate that various types of flour that were once produced have converged into a single type throughout the Upper Rio Negro. The article aims to demonstrate how the civilization process led Indigenous peoples to adapt and/or intensify manioc flour production using techniques they traditionally possessed, responding in their own way to contact relations.