Jan Hoffman French’s Legalizing Identities is a comprehensive analysis of the processes that two groups in Northeastern Brazil went through to classify as federally recognized Indian and quilombo (maroon) communities. The book focuses on neighboring communities along the São Francisco River in the sertão (backlands) in the state of Sergipe. Her point is to show why and how rural people who historically did not identify as Indian or black (descendents of slaves) have assumed or negated such identities in recent years, and she argues that their decisions were not solely based on the acquisition of land rights or phenotypical distinctions. The formation of a consciousness about a shared identity stemmed from three overlapping conditions. In both cases, large landowners threatened rural workers’ previously existing access to farmland. Catholic priests and church activists, anthropologists, lawyers, and NGO activists helped groups construct a history and traditions appropriate for their “new” ethnoracial identity....
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