Portuguese colonization of the Americas by the general elections to its first "Câmara" (City Council) on August 22, 1532, is symbolically considered the birthplace of democracy in the Americas. From 1534 to 1536, 15 Captaincy colonies were created in Portuguese America. The captaincies were autonomous, and mostly private, colonies of the Portuguese Empire, each owned and run by a Captain-major. In 1549, due to their failure and limited success, the Captaincy Colonies of Brazil were united into the Governorate General of Brazil. The captaincy colonies were reorganized as provincial districts to the Governorate. The captaincies continued to be ruled by their hereditary captain-majors but they
Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas The Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA) is an international organization founded in 1981 devoted to the study of the indigenous languages of North, Central, and South America. SSILA has an annual winter meeting held in association with the Linguistic Society of America's annual conference. Summer meetings are held in alternate years at venues near the LSA's Summer Institute. Presentations at SSILA meetings may be made in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Each year, SSILA accepts nominations for three awards, which are presented at