Xapury Museum (Museu do Xapury) is situated in the town of Xapuri, in the state of Acre, in the Northern region of Brazil. It was opened on 3 August 2005, with the goal to depict the history of the city and its people.
The settlement that gave rise to the town first appeared in the middle of the 19th century, in a strategic location on the confluence of the Xapuri and Acre Rivers.
In 1899, the locality of Xapuri was occupied by Bolivian authorities who called it Mariscal Sucre. The invasion of the neighbouring country provoked a series of conflicts known as the Acre Revolt, ended with the annexation of Acre to Brazil in 1903, through the Treaty of Petrópolis.
Xapuri transformed itself into a village in 1904 and was officially recognised as a municipality in 1912. The name of the town and the museum refer to the name of the river that divides the region, which in turn is derived from the indigenous tribe, “Xapurys”.
The museum is located in a building constructed in 1927 to house the town council, and it displays an exhibition about the history of the people of Xapuri, since its settlement, through the golden age of rubber which gave the town the title of ‘Little Princess of Acre’, until the struggle of one of its most famous sons, Chico Mendes, the leader of the resistance movement to defend native rubber-tappers’ rights, which culminated in the creation of rubber-extracting reserves.
The archives contain weapons from the Acre Revolt, furniture and a wide range of objects that represent the exploitation of forest workers.
Recife, 27 August 2010.
Translated by Peter Leamy, February 2011.
sources consulted
RODRIGUES, Caticilene. O Museu do Xapury, 2010. Texto enviado por correio eletrônico atendendo solicitação do autor.
HISTÓRICO de Xapuri. Disponível em: <http://www.xapuri.ac.gov.br>. Acesso em: 27 ago. 2010.
how to quote this text
Source: OLIVEIRA, Albino. Xapury Museum. Pesquisa Escolar On-Line, Joaquim Nabuco Foundation, Recife. Available at: <https://pesquisaescolar.fundaj.gov.br/en/>. Accessed: day month year. Exemple: 6 Aug. 2009.