Diaries, notes, drawings, photographs, ethnographic collections, and linguistic
data by Heinrich H. Manizer, a member of the Second Russian (student) expedition to South America (1914–1915), make it possible to reconstruct some information about the ethnographic collection of the National Museum of Brazil, lost in the 2018 fire, and to recreate some aspects of the disappearing Botocudo traditional culture. In 1915, H. H. Manizer spent six months in the
Brazilian states of Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais with the Botocudo Indians, who, until 1912, led a nomadic lifestyle. Manizer studied anthropology from a broad perspective. The topics of technology, material processing, and man-made products in the natural environment occupied an important place in his observations. This interest is manifested in sketches and collected linguistic
and ethnographic material. He donated duplicate collections to the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) and the National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (MAE) holds the
Botokudos material culture in its collection comprised of utensils, household items, jewelry sets, musical instruments, and weapons (Collection no. 2535). The list of Manizer’s articles for the
National Museum of Brazil confirms that the sets of items were almost identical and represented
the daily life of several groups of the Botocudos.