{"id":155284,"date":"2021-05-08T19:54:40","date_gmt":"2021-05-08T19:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=196335"},"modified":"2021-05-08T19:54:40","modified_gmt":"2021-05-08T19:54:40","slug":"brazil-european-colonial-history-exposed-in-landmark-court-case-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/05\/08\/brazil-european-colonial-history-exposed-in-landmark-court-case-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazil: European Colonial History Exposed in Landmark Court Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
Indigenous protest, Brazil April 2018. \u201cBy painting the streets red, we\u2019re showing how much blood has already been shed in the struggle to protect indigenous territories\u201d \u2013 S\u00f4nia Guajajara, a spokeswoman for APIB (Brazilian indigenous organization). \u00a9 Marcelo Camargo\/Ag\u00eancia Brasil<\/p>\n

The land rights of the Xokleng, a tribe that was violently expelled from its territory in the 19th and 20th centuries to make way for European colonists, are now the focus of a landmark court case in Brazil.<\/p>\n

The Xokleng were brutally persecuted and evicted by armed militias to make way for European settlers. The Supreme Court hearing into the so-called \u201cTime Limit Trick\u201d could now set the effects of these and subsequent evictions in stone, establishing a precedent which would have far-reaching consequences for indigenous peoples in Brazil.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
Other Xokleng communities are also fighting to recover some of their territory. The Konglui Xokleng in Rio Grande do Sul state have launched a \u2018retomada\u2019 (reoccupation) of their land, which is now occupied by a national park. The government wants to make it an \u2018ecotourism\u2019 destination. \u00a9 Iami Gerbase\/Survival<\/p>\n

The case centers around the demarcation of the \u201cIbirama La Kl\u00e3n\u00f5\u201d Indigenous Territory in the state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil. If they win, the Xokleng would be able to return to a significant part of their ancestral territory.<\/p>\n

However, the official demarcation of the territory has been suspended following a lawsuit filed by non-indigenous residents and a logging company operating in the area. They argue that on October 5, 1988 \u2013 the date the Brazilian Constitution was signed \u2013 the Xokleng only lived in limited parts of the territory and therefore have no right to most of their original land. If this argument succeeds, it would legitimize centuries of evictions experienced by indigenous peoples throughout Brazil.<\/p>\n

The Brazilian government encouraged Europeans to settle on indigenous land, and allocated them large parts of the Xokleng and other indigenous territories at the beginning of the 20th century. It also financed a so-called \u201cIndian-hunting militia\u201d, which accelerated the colonial land grab. This militia specialized in the extermination of indigenous peoples and hunted down the Xokleng.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Redskins are interfering with colonization: this interference must be eliminated, and as quickly and thoroughly as possible,\u201d German colonists demanded at the time.<\/p>\n

German settlers resented Xokleng attempts to defend their territories, and frequently subjected them to cruel \u201cpunitive expeditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Xokleng territory was continuously reduced<\/a> over several decades. In the 1970s, a dam was built in the small part that remained.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
Map of the current (Ibirama) and planned (Ibirama La Kl\u00e3n\u00f5) indigenous territory. The expansion of the territory is the cause of the legal dispute. \u00a9 Marian Ruth Heineberg\/Natalia Hanazaki based on data from FUNAI\/IBGE\/MMA.<\/p>\n

If Brazil\u2019s Supreme Court votes in favor of the \u201cTime Limit Trick\u201d, it would have devastating consequences<\/a> for many other indigenous peoples, and their chances of reclaiming their ancestral territories. It could enable the theft of land that is rightfully owned by hundreds of thousands of tribal and indigenous people. The validity of existing indigenous territories could then also come into question.<\/p>\n

Bras\u00edlio Pripr\u00e1, a prominent Xokleng leader, said<\/a>: \u201cIf we didn\u2019t live in a certain part of the territory in 1988, it doesn\u2019t mean it was \u201cno man\u2019s land\u201d or that we didn\u2019t want to be there. The \u201cTime Limit Trick\u201d reinforces the historical violence that continues to leave its mark today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indigenous organizations and their allies, including Survival, began raising fears about the \u201cTime Limit Trick\u201d in 2017, calling it unlawful because it violates the current Brazilian Constitution and international law, which clearly states that indigenous peoples have the right to their ancestral lands.<\/p>\n

President Bolsonaro is turning back the clock on indigenous rights<\/a>, attempting to: erase their right to self-determination; sell off their territories to logging and mining companies; and \u2018assimilate\u2019 them against their will. Survival International and tribal peoples are fighting side by side to stop Brazil\u2019s genocide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article was posted on Saturday, May 8th, 2021 at 12:54pm and is filed under Brazil<\/a>, Colonialism<\/a>, Jair Bolsonaro<\/a>, Original Peoples<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indigenous protest, Brazil April 2018. \u201cBy painting the streets red, we\u2019re showing how much blood has already been shed in the struggle to protect indigenous territories\u201d \u2013 S\u00f4nia\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4822,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1006,2106,278,4,636,23003],"tags":[1027,2107,17001,639],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155284"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4822"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155285,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155284\/revisions\/155285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}