"TOCANTINESE IS NOT GOIANO": THE IDENTITY REGIONAL AND THE CREATION OF THE STATE OF TOCANTINS

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss Tocantins people’s regional identity produced by Northern Goiás emancipation in the 1950s. This period was characterized by an intensive campaign in favor of the creation of the State of Tocantins, which also reverberated in the national press. Our interest is to present and discuss the Tocantins identity demonstrations published in articles in “O Estado de São Paulo” newspaper, based on a file survey in that communication vehicle. The autonomist discourse of Northern Goiás in the 1950s became stronger after the Federal Government’s political guidelines on the occupation of the country’s hinterland, which was later demonstrated by the construction of Brasília and the transfer of the federal capital city to the State of Goiás hinterland.