A dependency of the Fundação Nacional do ĺndio (FUNAI), the principal federal government agency responsible for indigenous affairs, the Museu do Índio holds a significant collection of films of ethnographic interest, most of which were made during the 1940s and 1950s, but going as far back as 1912. The majority of these films were made under the auspices of either the Comissão Rondon, a government agency charged with opening of the interior of Brazil between the 1890s and the 1930s, or the Serviço da Protecçao aos ĺndios (SPI), the predecessor institution of FUNAI, originally set up in 1910 in association with the Comissão Rondon.
These films are available as DVDs that may be consulted in the library of the Museu do Índio, but recently a number have also been made available in the form of a YouTube playlist which can be accessed here.
A general catalogue of the Museu’s audiovisual holdings is available here