Indigenous groups triumph in Brazilian land dispute

INDIGENOUS communities in Brazil have scored a major victory, as the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in their favour in a conflict over the Xingu Indigenous Park, in the state of Mato Grosso, and the Indigenous Reserves of Nambikwara and Parecis.

Representatives of several indigenous peoples celebrated outside the court in Brasilia when the decision was announced. The ruling denied the state of Mato Grosso’s request of financial compensation filed in 1996 against the National Indigenous Institute, or Funai.

The state of Mato Grosso had complained that the 27 000km² indigenous park of the Xingu wrongfully included lands belonging to the state, while Funai argued that the areas rightfully belonged to local indigenous communities.

The government of President Michel Temer had backed the compensation claim, along with several other moves to limit indigenous land rights in what critics say was an attempt to win support from the powerful landowners’ lobby in the Brazilian congress.

Judge Marco Aurelio Mello stated there was enough evidence proving that all of the park lands had been traditionally occupied by Indigenous communities as well as other territories in the surrounding areas.

He cited anthropological and archaeological studies showing that the occupation could be dated back at least 800 years earlier.

The state of Mato Grosso was ordered to pay the legal costs for the case.