Resumo:
O artigo analisa a prospecção de ouro em Angola, especificamente na região do rio Lombige, entre os séculos XVIII e XIX, destacando as conexões com o Atlântico Sul e o protagonismo de trabalhadores africanos. A autora parte da trajetória de Quingongua, um minerador do século XIX, para investigar as técnicas de mineração, as relações de trabalho e as formas de recrutamento de mão de obra dependente dos sobas (líderes locais) vassalos da Coroa portuguesa. O texto examina as expedições de prospecção aurífera realizadas entre 1754 e 1761, protagonizadas por personagens como o minerador Caetano Álvares de Araújo (que havia vivido nas Minas Gerais) e o frei carmelita Lourenço de Jesus Maria, evidenciando a circulação de saberes técnicos entre Brasil e Angola. A pesquisa discute a violência e a coerção no recrutamento de trabalhadores africanos livres, que eram tratados como escravizados, bem como a resistência dos sobas e suas populações diante da exploração colonial. Conclui-se que a mineração em Angola envolveu um complexo regime de trabalho compulsório, marcado pela dependência dos conhecimentos e da mão de obra locais, cujas memórias e técnicas persistiam no século XIX.
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Abstract:
This article examines gold prospecting in Angola, specifically in the Lombige River region, between the 18th and 19th centuries, highlighting the connections to the South Atlantic and the central role played by African work-ers. The author draws on the life story of Quingongua, a 19th-century miner, to investigate mining techniques, labor relations, and the methods of recruiting labor dependent on the sobas (local leaders) who were vassals of the Portu-guese Crown. The text examines the gold prospecting expeditions carried out between 1754 and 1761, led by figures such as the miner Caetano Álvares de Araújo (who had lived in Minas Gerais) and the Carmelite friar Lourenço de Jesus Maria, highlighting the circulation of technical knowledge between Brazil and Angola. The study discusses the violence and coercion involved in the recruitment of free African workers, who were treated as slaves, as well as the resistance of the sobas and their populations in the face of colonial exploitation. It concludes that mining in Angola involved a complex system of forced labor, marked by a reliance on local knowledge and labor, whose memories and techniques persisted into the 19th century.
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