SOCIOCULTURAL
FORMATION OF THE
NORTHERN FLUMINENSE
RESTINGAS
According to Gabriel Soares de Souza(1), writing in the
second half of the sixteenth century, the first attempt of Portu-
guese colonization of the northern Fluminense occurred at the
northern restinga, near the mouth of the Paraíba do Sul River. This
attempt was unsuccessful. One line of historiography supports
that the continuous colonization of the region was made by fish-
ermen coming from Cabo Frio, in 1622, who settled where the city
of Atafona is currently located and founded the city of São João
da Barra. In fact, this is the oldest urban nucleus in the restingas
of the region. It is true that Macaé was already a settlement when
the continuous colonization of the region began, but it was locat-
ed at the crystalline zone, on the right bank of the river that has
the same name of the city, not on the left bank where the restinga
begins.
The left bank of Paraíba do Sul was conquered from São
João da Barra. Gargaú dates from the second half of the nine-
teenth century. This village was an important mercantile center
of a region called Sertão. A dynamic trade fair was held at this
village where small and large producers gathered weekly to sell
their products. The agricultural diversity was remarkable.In the twentieth century, other urbans nuclei were settled
in the restingas, more in the northern than in the southern one.
Guaxindiba rises slowly at the edge of the northern restinga. At
the mouth of the Paraíba do Sul River, the island of Convivência
achieved national prominence. The island population was formed
by castaways’ descendants coming from Anglo-Saxon countries,
notably Dutch and English ones, what is supposed. These peo-
ple were called regionally as muxuangos. They had light skin
wrinkled by the sun, straight blond hair and blue eyes. They lived
mainly from the fishing and catching of mollusks and crusta-
ceans in the mangrove of the great river. Among them, there was
the practice of marriage by simulated abduction. The man inter-
ested in a woman simulated her abduction. The parents showed
indignation, but everything was forged and accepted at the end.Nowadays, as a security reason, no one else inhabits the
island. Erosion caused by the sea sometimes destroys, some-
times rebuilds the island, but the conditions for settlement are
inappropriate. Nonetheless, today is still possible to find cou-
ples that married through kidnapping living in Atafona, anotherCasa de palha na restinga: moradias feitas
de barro e bambu trançado com telhado de
palha. Foto de Casto Faria, 1941Thatched-roof house in the restinga: Walls
made with clay and braided bamboo and
thatched roof. Photo by Casto Faria, 1941