What kind of "Askiris" for South America?

[NickNascati]

All,
      I just finished reading Conan Doyle's "The Lost World".  What sort or figures could I use as armed guards or Askiris fir South America?

[HerbyF]

There would not have been any askaris in South America except for maybe a couple of indiviguals that might have come over with an explorer from Africa. Porters, guides, gunmen to protect an expedition might be quite a mix though. Some might be white mercinaries hired for protection. Maybe some Afro-Careab or Afro-native mixed or even ex-slave Africans in some form of service to the expedition. Dress would be mostly the same as Caribean/Latin American poor. Trousers, tunic shirts, maybe vests or panchos, broad brimmed hats(straw or felt). A lot like Mexican peons or Hereros from Africa. Porters might even be natives hired or conscripted for service.

[NickNascati]

Right, perhaps I should have stated more clearly, what would be the equivalent of Askiris in a South American context?  The idea being an expedition down the Amazon ala Stanley in Africa.  There would have to be some type of armed men to protect the explorers.

[FramFramson]

He's sort of explained that there really aren't any "native soldiers under white officers" that are exactly analogous to askaris.

If you want uniformed government soldiers, they will probably be of spanish south american descent. If you want mercenaries, Herby F had some good suggestions. If you want labourers or porters or guides, you might have some south american natives (the appearance of which would vary quite a bit depending on where you were), or blacks. Amazonian native tribes tended to be more isolated and smaller in number and so and were less-common for such work, but you could still have some as porters for a deep jungle journey, Fitzcarraldo-style.

[carlos marighela]

Historical expeditions simply hired locals as guides and porters, who, depending on where in the Amazon Basin the expedition was staged, would have been a mix of peoples.  In Brazil that could/ would include a mix of ethnicities, mestiços, whites, indigenous peoples and caboclos (people of mixed Afro- indigenous parentage). Remember that the Amazon itself is navigable for most of its length and despite being over 1300km from the Atlantic, Manaus is and was a significant port city and that means you get all types, including unemployed matelots.

None of the expeditions I can think of took anything like Askaris. Historic expeditions in the modern era, ie say the late 19th C onwards did so with the approval/ blessing of the sovereign states involved, principally Brazil or Peru. Such entities were not given to allowing large bodies of armed foreigners licence to traipse their territories. Brazilian expeditions were often supported by or indeed undertaken by the army. Cândido Rondon, probably the most celebrated Brazilian explorer (he had a state named after him) was an army engineer. Rondon founded the SPI,the indigenous protection agency forerunner to today's FUNAI. It's worth remembering that their original motto was 'die if necessary but never kill'.

The expedition members themselves might be armed and certainly a proportion would be but these would be mostly for the purposes of hunting and a modicum of self defence. Teddy Roosevelt's famous expedition was fairly well equipped. Fawcett carried guns but then aside from one or two trusted confreres, Fawcett's expeditions tended to be fairly small on the personnel side. Fawcett tended to the philosophy that the best protection against potentially hostile tribes was to negotiate and make friends.

 IIRC correctly Peter Fleming's expedition to find the aforesaid Col. Fawcett carried only a couple of firearms. Well worth reading is Brazilian Adventure his account of the expedition.

Short answer, unless supported by government troops you aren't going to find much in the way of armed bodies of men supporting expeditions.

You may find some inspiration here:

Teddy Roosevelt's Amazon expedition (worth getting hold of Candice Millard's The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey )




Some original footage in this documentary on the Rondon Commission on Indigenous Peoples.



Xingu is an excellent film on the Villas-Bôas brothers and their expedition through Central Brazil. The trailer is here but it's worth tracking down the whole film.




Slightly naff yank doco on Percy Fawcett's last expedition.

[NickNascati]

All,
       Thanks much for responding.  Apparently I was wrong in equating Africa with South America.  Carlos, I will look into your links.
                                                                                             Nick

[Valerik]

 What sort or figures could I use as armed guards or Askiris for South America?

The only armed native troops one would find in the New World, South, Central, or North would be confined to European Colonial possessions.  This pretty much limits one to British, Dutch or French colonial areas.  & think police or civil guard rather than armed soldiery.  No real enemies to keep a standing army, native or otherwise, simply lounging about.

Apparently I was wrong in equating Africa with South America. 

Mostly no large, war-like tribal 'nations' to deal with on a regular basis.  & the interior tends to be much less open as well as more sparsely populated.  As Carlos said the sovereign states had a LOT to say about who went where armed with what.   

If it's Askari types you want to use think of of placing your game on an isolated island nominally a European possession.  My Puerto Miseria, Spanish name aside, is governed by the Dutch, who despise duty on that volcanic hell heap.  Plenty of indiginous locals of all sorts, from loin cloths to linen suits, blowpipes to Brownings, they run the gamut!!  Then there's the sailors....

Perhaps we'll meet there for refreshing tropical drink one day.

TMMV

Valerik

"You will never do anything with poor oxen"
H.R.Haggard 

[NickNascati]

Valerik,
           I think you solved my problem. 

                                             Nick

[Valerik]

Valerik,
           I think you solved my problem. 

                                             Nick

Happy to be of service, Sir!! 

Again...

Now, about that drink...


Valerik

"A sharp spear needs no polish"
Kukuana proverb

[mikedemana]

Speaking of which, Xingu is also the name of an excellent black lager from Brazil. Look for it in your imports section....

Did that help, Valerik? 

Mike Demana
ww.firstcommandwargames.com

[carlos marighela]

Speaking of which, Xingu is also the name of an excellent black lager from Brazil. Look for it in your imports section....

Did that help, Valerik? 

Mike Demana
ww.firstcommandwargames.com

It is indeed and such a lovely alternative to the sickly sweet malzbier you usually get foisted on you when you ask for a dark beer in Brazil.