The Xokleng people of Santa Catarina state have finally seen the rights to their ancestral lands endorsed by the state with wide implications for other Indigenous groups sum up the longstanding hope for justice in their struggle for land the Xokleng people have waited for the Brazilian state to recognise their rights On 21 September they prevailed – and their victory in the federal supreme court will reshape the way the state approaches Indigenous land rights in Brazil one of the leading figures in the struggle of the Xokleng people to reclaim their land Indigenous people had to prove they occupied or contested the territory they claimed before 5 October 1988 the day Brazil’s federal constitution came into force as many Indigenous people are nomadic or had been forcibly removed by miners or farmers and disputes tended to be settled in favour of the landowners the supreme court rejected the notion of a “time limit” on Indigenous people’s claims to ancestral land and said the essential element must be how Indigenous people occupy and derive their livelihood from the land The legal argument of the “marco temporal”, or time limit, was first used in 2009 in a case related to the Raposa Serra do Sol reserve in the Amazon and was an attempt by agribusiness lobbyists to curb the boundary of Indigenous lands claiming they were illegally occupying two conservation areas the Serra da Abelha and the Sassafrás biological reserve and that’s when they came up against the time limit argument which the state of Santa Catarina used to justify the eviction Nduzi Gakran looks out over the Hercílio River which flows into the Itajaí-Açu in the municipality of Ibirama The case eventually reached the supreme court whose recent verdict dismissed the time limit thesis ending years of legal wrangling and giving the Xokleng a pivotal victory against the local state government the supreme court decided that its decision would set a precendent so the Ibirama-Laklãnõ verdict will have widespread implications for all land boundary disputes in Brazil and Indigenous communities throughout the country are celebrating the ruling Yet this decision will hardly eliminate the tensions surrounding Brazil’s land conflicts which have doggedly persisted despite rulings in the capital Even if they have prevailed in the supreme court the Xokleng leaders that the Guardian met remain anxious about attacks by non-Indigenous tenants Farmers also express worries over potential conflicts Frictions emerge when Indigenous ranchers and farmers live in the same region The Ibirama-Laklãnõ land encompasses Alto Vale do Itajaí region José Boiteux and Vitor Meireles municipalities It is home to about 2,000 Indigenous people primarily Xokleng but also Guarani and Kaingang A deforested area within the Ibirama-Laklãnõ Indigenous land Loggers clear the ground to plant pine and eucalyptus trees The conflict over the Xokleng land has endured for more than a century The contested 37,000 hectares (91,500 acres) had been first established in 1914 by the then Indian Protection Service (SPI) the Santa Catarina authorities did not respect the agreement and a substantial portion of the land was taken without Indigenous consent The Xokleng retreated to an area of about 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) has concluded that the traditional land use stands at nearly three times the current occupied area Funai used the study to support the Xokleng in their legal appeal a Xokleng president of Brazil’s first Indigenous environmental NGO the dwellings occupy the 14,000-hectare segment: the surrounding area supports the community’s subsistence through traditional gathering Seedlings will be planted out in the forest and Nduzi Gakran checks the progress of one he put in the ground earlier Nduzi Gakran and other Xokleng people patrol the forest of the Ibirama-Laklãnõ Indigenous lands At the boundary of the 37,000-hectare area Xokleng people would previously set up a temporary camp for the pinhão harvest – the fruit of the araucaria trees that grow extensively in the region Gakran says: “They put pressure on us in our region to intimidate our leaders and criminalise us … We have protected nature for millennia I’m in this fight for the memory of my parents and grandparents who were killed in Santa CatarinaYoko Kopacã community elder“I’m astonished because the Environmental Institute sued Xokleng The map established the 37,000-hectare area; it just needed to be respected In response to the state government’s claim to the territory members of the community such as elder Yoko Kopacã and her family set up camp at the site to symbolise resistance and the fight for their land Kopacã says: “I honour my ancestors; that’s why I’m in this fight for the memory of my parents and grandparents who were killed and suffered from the Indigenous genocide in Santa Catarina.” Yoko Kopacã: ‘I honour my ancestors; that’s why I’m in this fight’ chief of the nine remaining Indigenous villages in the territory many of whom were victims of indiscriminate killings He says their people might not endure today without reverence for those who have gone before “We had this land where Indigenous people roamed; I hunted a lot with my father in these areas whereas Indigenous people of that time had none The time limit should not be applied to us but to non-Indigenous people who invaded Brazil,” Camelem says The initiative aimed to establish peaceful relations, as the Xokleng had suffered at the hands of “bugreiros” white mercenaries who hunted Indigenous people – “bugres” meaning savages – so their land could be claimed by settlers Pictures and artefacts in the Xokleng cultural space a bugreiro told Dos Santos that they used to cut off the ears of Indigenous people as proof of their kills to the colonisers secretary of Indigenous environmental and territorial rights at the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples said before the supreme court’s verdict: “The Xokleng people currently face the grim prospect of extinction due to the relentless extermination attempts that have unfolded over history The notoriety of the ‘bugreiros’ is a regrettable but undeniable reality in Santa Catarina These Indigenous-people hunters were paid based on the number of ears they delivered to their masters.” As well as the loss of their kin and the land conflicts the Xokleng also had to contend with a dam being built in the 1970s which flooded part of their territory and affected their way of life the Xokleng maintained a settlement in the area as a form of resistance against eviction claims by the Santa Catarina Environmental Institute Funai has not yet assessed the potential consequences of the “time limit” judgment but says there are approximately 490 Indigenous land claims Funai had said before the verdict: “The time limit argument disregards the lengthy history of dispossession and violence against Indigenous peoples leading to their expulsion from their ancestral lands That contradicts Indigenous rights enshrined in the Brazilian federal constitution and international treaties ratified by the Brazilian state.” legal adviser to the Indigenous Missionary Council and lawyer for the Xokleng community argues that there are no more obstacles to the Indigenous people’s right to occupy their ancestral environment Piles of cut pine and eucalyptus; a deforested and burnt area within the Ibirama-Laklãnõ Indigenous land where some plantations have been established; the North Dam which displaced the Xokleng people from their first village The Guardian saw several sections of deforested land with piles of cut-down trees important to Indigenous people for its pine nuts and its role in the Atlantic Forest ecosystem and furniture industries and are considered “green deserts” by rights organisations representing farmers within the disputed territory the lands they occupy have deeds and were legitimately sold by the state government of Santa Catarina Jeremias says: “We have consistently respected the restricted area of 14,000 hectares My ancestors and grandparents also upheld this boundary; some sections belong to the Indigenous people All the farmers bought and hold acts to these lands the removal of the “time limit” doctrine will affect 550 families in Santa Catarina Yoko Kopacã under the canopy of an araucaria tree The Xokleng people consider the araucaria to be sacred and gathering its pine nuts is part of their tradition From bugreiros to the dam the saga of the Laklãnõ-Xokleng people for their territory telegram Join our Telegram channel! telegram On the night of October 13, 2023, the people Laklãnõ-Xokleng faced a tragedy in its territory: an unprecedented flood of the floodgates of the North Dam reservoir The order was given by the governor of Santa Catarina More than 300 people had to be rushed to a safe area where they pitched tents as they watched their homes being invaded by the waters and their communities isolated – a saga that has been repeated since the 1970s the Xokleng who resisted the closing of the floodgates were also the target of a brutal operation by the Military Police of Santa Catarina The operation is the subject of an investigation by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) who underwent surgery to remove a projectile lodged in his arm the Federal Court had already ordered the State government to assist indigenous communities with basic food baskets health care and a plan to build emergency housing in the Figueira village all the houses are condemned and 30 families were left homeless when the river floods the land becomes soft and when it falls it causes erosion - a process that repeats itself with each flood and puts new areas at risk The basic food baskets that arrived were incomplete Mothers reported a lack of children's diapers and clothing says that the community is being swallowed by the river and that the authorities are not taking action part of the school building has collapsed and the farm and animal husbandry areas are underwater,” Covika Camlem told ISA has been to seek assistance for families who are in the improvised shelter in the dam area “I know that our long-term fight for the definitive demarcation of our lands is very important but we also need to guarantee dignity for these families today It is not possible for them to continue in this situation Indigenous people still complain about the lack of health care and that the Indigenous Health service center is outside the territory The dam had been out of operation for more than 14 years, without any type of maintenance and, in 2021, a report pointed out flaws and problems in the structure, exposing not only the disregard for the indigenous people, but also the failure to comply with a resolution of the National Water Agency (ANA) which determines the regular inspection of dams in Brazil the Santa Catarina government sent old reports and documents that were not accepted by the courts to ensure that the dam structure was in good condition Only one boat was available to serve all the communities and it only operated during business hours The delivery of basic food baskets and drinking water was also not regular and in many communities there was a lack of basic food items New information was requested from the state government The report also questioned the Santa Catarina government about the execution of the emergency plan and compensation to the Xokleng people due to the impacts of the dam the government of Santa Catarina states that it “seeks dialogue with the indigenous community to resume operations at the North Dam” that it has committed to carrying out actions in the community to return the structure to operation and that it has complied with emergency actions Governor Jorginho Mello (PL) refused a visit from the Minister of Indigenous Peoples to address the humanitarian crisis experienced by the Xokleng More than 300 people in the indigenous community report being without access to drinking water and without sanitary facilities in the shelter where they are staying To mitigate the impacts of the tragedy, the federal government approved in October the Barragem Norte Indigenous Reserve where the Xokleng found a safe place to shelter from the flood.  During a visit to the indigenous territory the president of the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (Funai) listened to the people's pleas: “I came here to bring my solidarity and bring answers to these families who have been waiting for years for the regularization of this area of ​​the Union It is an area for them to support themselves build housing and have access to public policies” the dam area was in the hands of the extinct National Department of Sanitation Works (DNOS) the body that built the dam and transferred its operation to the Santa Catarina government The site is one of the few in the territory that is safe during periods of rain and floods and has now officially become the exclusive use of indigenous people celebrates the measure: “It was good to guarantee this area for our communities because the truth is that we have been here for years in this movement Now we can rest assured and relatives can build their houses without the risk of new floods It is an important step towards the recognition of our struggle in search of the demarcation of our entire territory” the xokleng territory has been occupied for “at least five thousand years” The definitive demarcation of the 37 thousand hectares that make up their traditional territory is the main demand of the Laklãnõ-Xokleng in the fight for territorial rights gained attention with the judgment of the Marco Temporal thesis in the Federal Supreme Court (STF).  the court's plenary ruled in favor of the Xokleng denying that the demarcation as Indigenous Land could be conditioned on their presence on the land on the date of promulgation of the Federal Constitution - removing the main argument of the appeal filed by the environmental agency of Saint Catherine Read: STF buries thesis of the 'time frame' of demarcations of Indigenous Lands The Supreme Court's decision paved the way for the definitive demarcation of the Ibirama-La Klãnõ TI the hope of these people in favor of a way of life different from anything they have experienced so far at the hands of non-indigenous people A trajectory that began with the violent slaughter promoted by the government and colonizers at the end of the 40th century and beginning of the 1914th century when bugreiros were hired to decimate the indigenous people the indigenous people spent almost XNUMX years confined in forced isolation the result of an initiative by the Indian Protection Service (SPI) in XNUMX.  which has impacted the indigenous community since the 1970s it is a way for the State to demonstrate its control over our lives it is a way of erasing our history and a form of violence an organization that seeks to reaffirm the original rights of the Laklãnõ-Xokleng “The dam represents a long-term murder project As nowadays it is no longer allowed to hire buggy drivers it is permanently killing us little by little” “We are directly suffering from this war that has been going on over the climate issue for much longer than people imagine There is a lot of talk that populations will be affected and we are experiencing this now And we had to adapt to all this violence and changes that the state imposed on our lives” he denounced in the gallery of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Santa Catarina that the lands of indigenous peoples were being sold and demanded answers about the demarcation of the territory This is a fight that Iraci inherited from his elders who also had in their blood — and in their memory — the strength of the relatives who resisted since their first contacts with the colonizers.  “I would like to appeal to the Minister here to sign that document he has on his desk and give the Xokleng land, as it has been his since 1926! Someone sold it and we have nothing to do with it!”, he denounced, as shown Historical records of the Assembly was the first indigenous teacher in the village and until the end of his life he fought against the dam and oppression against the Xokleng I fight so that we can one day have our rights recognized” “The dam is here and it’s not going to leave here a continuous payment by the government to the indigenous people: “because our suffering is continuous” One of the community's requests in the agreement signed in 2015 provides for financial compensation for the impacts of the dam but the form of this payment has not yet been defined More than 20 years after the complaint, Iraci witnessed the president of Funai signing the transfer of the 860-hectare area surrounding the dam to the indigenous people. Even though the Indian Reservation North Dam Although the area is small compared to the 37 thousand hectares of the Ibirama-La Klãnõ TI awaiting approval played an important role in securing land for the indigenous people until the demarcation of their territory is completed.  the process of demarcating the Xokleng territory represents much more than the demarcation or review of the limits of an Indigenous Land It is also a recognition of the consecutive cycles of violence committed against the Xokleng with the direct participation of the Brazilian State “The Xokleng were not occupying their lands because they had a real impediment generated by all the circumstances that marked their history in that territory This land is absolutely necessary for a population that suffered from the construction of a dam in their territory and that leaves villages inaccessible They need humanitarian action that guarantees their subsistence in the medium and long term” The STF decision that rejected the Marco Temporal thesis based on the Ibirama-La Klãnõ TI action is considered one of the most important for indigenous rights in recent history.  But the definitive demarcation still depends on effective action by the federal government to ratify and disintrude the land which was declared in possession of the Xokleng in 2001 This will allow the indigenous people to retake their land and build their lives in safer places A dispute that needs to demobilize local agents who even after the STF decision do not give up their attacks against the indigenous people The communities continue to receive threats from farmers who occupy areas historically claimed by the Xokleng According to information from the Detailed Identification and Delimitation Report there are approximately 490 non-indigenous occupations within the territory recognized as traditional use with 257 titled properties and 180 possessions The biggest threats to the territory are wood theft tobacco plantations with high use of pesticides and invasions by farmers who would be the main beneficiaries of an eventual approval of the Temporal Framework thesis For lawyer Juliana de Paula Batista, the arguments used in the action demonstrate once again what interests the State wants to defend. One of them is that the demarcation would interfere with the Sassafras Biological Reserve (Rebio) the argument would just be a pretext to protect the possessions and interests that exist on the Xokleng land “It is an action where the State is litigating on behalf of third parties But he does not have the competence to defend private property to the detriment of original rights” who followed the trial at the STF of Extraordinary Appeal with general repercussion (RE-RG) 1.017.365.  the construction of the North Dam was a demand from businesspeople in the Itajaí Valley region who this structure became a painful scar in the life and culture of the Xokleng so that the State of Santa Catarina could reduce the incidence of flooding in cities built in areas of natural flooding of the rivers of the Itajaí Valley the press and other actors interested in erasing the Xokleng's territory the dam works were announced as a major plan to contain climate catastrophes only non-indigenous people were compensated for the impacts of the work Historically — and strategically — the government of the state of Santa Catarina which is responsible for operating the dam has negotiated with the Xokleng indigenous people precisely at critical moments of rain to close the floodgates The forecast of an El Niño led the government to seek an agreement that should occur through infrastructure improvements the Santa Catarina government did not comply with the agreement and closed the floodgates by force And we will do everything we can to protect them,” she wrote The first flood recorded in the Xokleng territory occurred in 1978 and condemned all the work carried out until then But construction was resumed and the consecutive floods also led to the forced displacement of indigenous people across the territory in addition to continued mobilizations to denounce the neglect the indigenous people even arrested a Funai employee demanding compensation from their lands because of the impacts caused by the dam the debt and responsibility for paying compensation for the damage caused by the North Dam to the indigenous community But this agreement was never fully executed The protests and promises have been repeated throughout all these years when the trucks were leaving the construction site we prevented them from leaving without paying compensation for our land The state government paid us to leave here It wasn’t any compensation payment or anything The 188 houses promised in 1992 were only completed in 2008 with the consecutive floods that hit the territory Some of these homes are officially closed by Civil Defense but they continue to be occupied by indigenous people as they still cannot access the safest parts of the territory The Xokleng would return to occupy the North Dam for the same reasons in 1997 when they took control of the engine room; and in 2001 and 2005 when seven of the eight villages were once again flooded indigenous people gathered around 300 people to block workers' access to the North Dam operation The system for preventing floods by closing floodgates would remain at a standstill until there was a solution to the community's demands: demarcation of land and the construction of houses outside the dam's flooding area the Santa Catarina Civil Defense proposed an agreement to guarantee access for technicians to the structure and avoid flooding downstream a bridge that connects the Piplatól village with the Palmeira village and two more suspension bridges were foreseen three subgroups of the Xokleng people occupied a wide territorial strip in the three southern states of the country With the installation of European colonial centers conflicts and resistance from the Xokleng became frequent who has been following the history of the Xokleng for more than 20 years says that the process of violence against indigenous people has been permanent and has involved government bodies and decisions from the beginning “What we see is that the Xokleng have been persecuted for over 100 years due to the geopolitics where they live It is the valley exactly where the colonies were placed to attract the Germans And this whole story has been repeating itself over the years The North Dam is another episode of protection for the colonies which are now municipalities in the Itajaí Valley” Agents from different state spheres were present at all times of pressure and oppression against the Xokleng It was the State that promoted the colonization of the region with the delivery of lands occupied by indigenous people to colonizing companies; It was the state that authorized the North American company Brazil Railway Company to build the railway that connected the city of São Paulo to Santa Maria and which culminated in the Contestado War (1912-1916) the road concession allocated 15 kilometers of land on each side of the railway to timber extraction reducing the supply of Araucaria pine nuts and other common foods among indigenous communities.  It was the Brazilian State that promoted the confinement of indigenous people by the SPI for almost four decades It was the government that designed and built the dam and who also gave and still gives orders to close the floodgates.  All of these measures profoundly affected the Xokleng's way of life and territorial autonomy “It is a history of disasters and attacks that does not have many precedents in the history of Brazil it was to mediate the land conflict involving the Laklãnõ who were having their lands invaded by the Hanseatic Colony and they carried out resistance that the colonists called attacks” after years of being hunted and killed by buggy drivers hired by the government and colonization companies the Xokleng practically handed themselves over to the SPI to avoid being completely decimated son of the Austrian officer Miguel Hörhann and great-grandnephew of the monarchist Luís Alves de Lima e Silva was responsible for the SPI post that attracted the Xokleng in 1914 and confined the indigenous people to an area of 30 thousand hectares the indigenous area was reduced to 20 thousand hectares and in 1952 to 14 thousand hectares was the one who made the first contact with non-indigenous people “They came to the riverbank and decided to make contact said the chief who is a direct descendant of the Camlem a Laklãnõ clan of prayers and healers who know how to interpret dreams and the speeches of birds While the indigenous people remained in settlements under the SPI the German colonies received 600 hectares of land in agreements with the government of Santa Catarina and consolidated areas on the indigenous territory which has its origins in the Companhia Colonizadora Hanseática Ltda. During this period, timber companies began to explore the limits of the territory and settle settlers there. For more than 30 years, Hoerhann kept the Xokleng confined to the Duque de Caxias Indigenous Post, where the indigenous people faced institutionalized violence and lost a large part of their population to epidemics the SPI agent's reports indicated that the indigenous people were not restricted to the delimited post Hoerhann states that “the Botocudo Indians of this Post always [...] go out on their excursions either to hunt or to collect pine nuts in the pine forests at the top of the mountain Hoerhann was accused of appropriating part of the indigenous people's lands and negotiating portions of the territory with the timber company Leopoldo Zarling Hoerhann left the SPI post accused of participating in the death of the indigenous Brasílio Priprá.  Hoerhann's time in the territory created deep roots with different feelings and effects on the lives of the Xokleng But his departure did not result in the end of oppression either an invasion organized by businessmen with hundreds of peasant families took over the last 15 thousand hectares that remained to the Xokleng until then the leaders traveled on foot to the capital Florianópolis to denounce and demand a solution loggers and other invaders put even more pressure on the Laklãnõ-Xokleng lands until in 1975 the construction of the North Dam was announced the indigenous people took back part of the land that was transferred to Hoerhann In the book “The Xokleng Indians - visual memory” from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) one of the greatest researchers of the Xokleng people says that the myth of the “demographic void” was used as argument to justify the establishment of German and Italian colonies in the region Txulunh has no doubt that only definitive demarcation can guarantee the rights of the Laklãnõ-Xokleng: “We hope to be recognized as citizens with rights Be recognized as a subject of law and be recognized as native Santa Catarina citizens We are native to this state and we see this denial a lot throughout history.” The most relevant news for you to form your opinion on the socio-environmental agenda LAST ISSUE Interviews with people in remote communities challenge widely held perception that money buys happiness People living in remote Indigenous communities are as happy as those in wealthy developed countries despite having “very little money”, according to new scientific research that could challenge the widely held perception that “money buys happiness” Researchers who interviewed 2,966 people in 19 Indigenous and local communities across the world found that on average they were as happy – if not happier – as the average person in high-income western countries many populations with very low monetary incomes report very high average levels of life satisfaction with scores similar to those in wealthy countries,” said Eric Galbraith the lead author of the study which was published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by learning more about what makes life satisfying in these diverse communities it might help many others to lead more satisfying lives while addressing the sustainability crisis.” The study by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) found that people in the 19 isolated communities reported an average “life satisfaction score” of 6.8 out of 10 “even though most of the sites have estimated annual monetary incomes of less than US$1,000 (£800) per person” This is roughly the same as the 6.7 average life satisfaction score for all countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Galbraith, a researcher at ICTA-UAB and McGill University in Montreal, said four of the small communities reported average happiness scores of more than 8, which is higher than that found in Finland, the highest-rated country in OECD research, with an average of 7.9 Those four communities are the Kolla Atacameña in Argentina (8.0); the Pãi Tavyterã/Guarani in Paraguay (8.2); the Riberinhos in Brazil (8.4) and farmers in the Western Highlands of Guatemala (8.6) 30 out of 70 people interviewed gave a 10/10 response when asked about their life satisfaction The UK statistics body points out that the mean is much higher than the median average (£125,000) because of “the uneven distribution of wealth across the population” The ICTA-UAB report says its findings are “good news for sustainability and human happiness as they provide strong evidence that resource-intensive economic growth is not required to achieve high levels of subjective wellbeing” “The strong correlation frequently observed between income and life satisfaction is not universal and proves that wealth – as generated by industrialised economies – is not fundamentally required for humans to lead happy lives,” said Victoria Reyes-Garcia a researcher at ICTA-UAB and senior author of the study.