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22-666: There are 724 Indigenous territories ( Portuguese : Terra Indígena [ˈtɛʁɐ ĩˈdʒiʒẽnɐ] , TI ) in Brazil , comprising about 13% of the country's land area. According to Article 231 of the Brazilian Constitution , the Indigenous peoples of Brazil possess an inalienable right to lands they "traditionally occupy" and are automatically conferred permanent possession of these lands. In practice, Indigenous territories must be formally demarcated to gain full legal protection, which

44-630: A 100 km (60 mi) stretch known as the Volta Grande ("Big Bend"). The river flow in this stretch is highly complex and includes major sections of rapids . More than 450 fish species have been documented in the Xingu River Basin and it is estimated that the total is around 600 fish species, including many endemics . At least 193 fish species living in rapids are known from the lower Xingu, and at least 26 of these are endemic. From 2008 to 2018 alone, 24 new fish species have been described from

66-556: A Brazilian Indigenous rights group, argue that the disparity between Indigenous population and land ownership is justified because their traditional subsistence patterns (typically shifting cultivation or hunting and gathering ) are more land extensive than modern agriculture, and because many TIs include large areas of agriculturally unproductive land or are environmentally degraded due to recent incursions. Opponents of Indigenous territories also claim that they undermine national sovereignty . The promotion of Indigenous rights by NGOs

88-458: A TI to gain full legal protection, and this has often entailed protracted legal battles. Even after demarcation, TIs are frequently subject to illegal invasions by settlers and mining and logging companies. As of 2020 , there were 724 proposed or approved Indigenous territories in Brazil, covering about 13% of the country's land area. Critics of the system say that this is out of proportion with

110-493: A five-year deadline. However, demarcation is still ongoing. The process is frequently delayed by legal disputes arising from the objections of non-indigenous settlers and commercial interests in the proposed TI. This has been increasingly common since 1996, when a change in the law required an explicit period to be set aside in the demarcation process for the hearing of complaints. In 2008 the Supreme Federal Court issued

132-497: A high-profile decision in favour of the continued territorial integrity of Raposa Serra do Sol in Roraima . Settlers had protested their deportation from the TI, arguing that the reserve undermined Brazil's national integrity and the state's economic development, and proposing that it be broken up. The ruling established a legal precedent that affected more than 100 similar cases that were before

154-550: A single people and are named after that people and/or a local geographic feature. For example, the Guarani do Bracuí Indigenous Territory is demarcated for the Guarani people that live in the region of the Bracuí River in Rio de Janeiro . Other territories are inhabited by multiple Indigenous peoples. Indigenous territory (Brazil) A multi-stage demarcation process is required for

176-406: A total of 1,084,049 hectares; 43 had been formally identified (2,179,316 ha); 74 had been formally declared (7,305,639 ha) and 487 had already been formally approved (106,858,319 ha). In total, 723 areas were either under evaluation or had been legally consolidated as Indigenous territories, covering a total area of 117,427,323 hectares. For historical reasons— Portuguese colonisation started from

198-583: Is a multi-stage process overseen by the Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas (FUNAI) and the Ministry of Justice and often involves protracted legal battles. As of 2020, there were 487 fully demarcated and approved Indigenous territories, covering a total area of more than 100 million hectares . A further 120 territories, comprising around a million hectares, were in the process of being demarcated. For historical reasons— Portuguese colonisation started from

220-464: Is overly idealist, and a return to a more integrationist policy is favoured. In the Raposa Serra do Sol dispute, settlers and their advocates charged TIs with hindering economic development in sparsely populated states such as Roraima , where a large proportion of the land is reserved for Indigenous peoples despite commercial pressures to develop it for agricultural use. Instituto Socioambiental ,

242-482: Is seen as reflecting an "internationalisation of the Amazon" which is contrary to Brazil's economic interests. Elements in the military have also expressed concern that because many TIs occupy border regions they pose a threat to national security – although both the army and police are allowed full access. The current system of Indigenous territories has also been criticised by proponents of Indigenous rights, who say that

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264-462: Is the responsibility of FUNAI , the government body in charge of Indigenous affairs, who commission an ethnographic and geographical survey of the area and publish a proposal. This proposal must then be approved by the Ministry of Justice , who consider FUNAI's proposal and any objections from other interested parties with respect to the Constitution. If approved, FUNAI begins physically demarcating

286-739: The Amazon River and one of the largest clearwater rivers in the Amazon basin , accounting for about 5% of its water. The first Indigenous Park in Brazil was created in the river basin by the Brazilian government in the early 1960s. This park marks the first indigenous territory recognized by the Brazilian government and it was the world's largest indigenous preserve on the date of its creation. Currently, fourteen tribes live within Xingu Indigenous Park , surviving on natural resources and extracting from

308-506: The Supreme Court at the time. Land ownership is a contentious issue in Brazil. In the 1990s, as much as 45% of the available farmland in the country was controlled by 1% of the population. Some advocates of land reform have therefore criticised the amount of land reserved for Indigenous peoples, who make up just 0.2% of the national population. According to this view the 1988 Constitution's approach towards Indigenous peoples' right to land

330-560: The coast—most Indigenous territories are concentrated in the country's interior, particularly in Amazônia . There are only three federated units without any TIs: the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Piauí , and the Federal District . The following tables list proposed and approved Indigenous territories by state , along with their status in the demarcation process , land area, and approximate population. Most territories are inhabited by

352-467: The coast—most of these are concentrated in the country's interior, particularly Amazônia . There are only three federated units without any TIs: the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Piauí , and the Federal District . In the 1950s, Brazilian explorer and defender of Indigenous people, Cândido Rondon , supported the Villas-Bôas brothers ' campaign, which faced strong opposition from the government and

374-626: The new TI and the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform undertakes the resettlement of any non-indigenous occupants. Final approval, or homologation , for the demarcation a TI is issued by the President of the Republic , after which it is officially registered. The Statute of the Indian specified that all Indigenous lands should be demarcated by 1978, and the 1988 Constitution also set

396-404: The number of Indigenous people in Brazil, about 0.41% of the population; they argue that the amount of land reserved as TIs undermines the country's economic development and national security. As of 2016 , there were 702 Indigenous territories in Brazil, covering 1,172,995 km – 14% of the country's land area. As of 2020, 120 areas were in the formal process of being identified, covering

418-422: The process of demarcation is too slow and that FUNAI lacks the resources to properly protect them from encroachment once registered. Xingu River The Xingu River ( / ʃ iː ŋ ˈ ɡ uː / sheeng- GOO ; Portuguese : Rio Xingu [ˈʁi.u ʃĩˈɡu] ; Mẽbêngôkre : Byti [bɯˈti] ) is a 1,640 km (1,020 mi) river in north Brazil . It is a southeast tributary of

440-486: The ranchers of Mato Grosso and led to the establishment of the first Brazilian National Park for Indigenous people along the Xingu River in 1961. The process of demarcating Indigenous territories was first established in a 1973 law commonly known as Estatuto do Índio and has been revised several times, most recently in 1996. Under the current legal framework, the initial identification and definition of potential TIs

462-529: The river most of what they need for food and water. The Brazilian government built the Belo Monte Dam on the Lower Xingu, which began operations in 2019 and is the world's fifth-largest hydroelectric dam. Construction of this dam was under legal challenge by environment and indigenous groups, who assert the dam would have negative environmental and social impacts along with reducing the flow by up to 80% along

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484-519: The river. Many species are seriously threatened by the dam, which will significantly alter the flow in the Volta Grande rapids. In the Upper Xingu region was a highly self-organized pre-Columbian anthropogenic landscape, including deposits of fertile agricultural terra preta , black soil in Portuguese , with a network of roads and polities each of which covered about 250 square kilometers. Near

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