Brazil's Indian Protection Service (Serviço de Proteção ao Índio, abbreviated as SPI) was a government agency created to administer indigenous affairs.
It was created by President Nilo Peçanha in 1910 in response to pressure from Marshal Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon[1] and international accusations of indigenous genocide.
[1] Cândido Rondon was the first and most influential director of the agency, and was invited to the role by Brazilian Minister of Agriculture Rodolfo Miranda.
In a letter accepting the invitation to become the first director of the SPI, he said "As a Positivist and member of the Positivist Church of Brazil, I am convinced that our indigenes should incorporate themselves into the West..."[1] These ideas and policies shaped government relations with indigenous peoples for the next four decades.
[3] [4] That same year, It was replaced by the National Indian Foundation (Fundação Nacional do Índio) or FUNAI, which is still active today.