Kaiowa

The hands of Guarani-Kaiowa tribe member Bernarda Soares, 89 at a ranch occupied by the tribe near Antonio Joao in Brazil's western Mato Grosso do Sul state, April 8, 2006. The Kaiowa moved to the roadside from a squat of over 9,000 hectares of land in an attempt to draw attention to their situation. The tribe claims that land colonized by non-indigenous people in the 1940s and 50s, which was promoted by the Brazilian government at the time to establish sovereignty in the region bordering Paraguay, is their ancestral homeland and demands titles to it. While the Federal Constitution guarantees the right of Indians to possess the land which they occupy, the Antonio Joao situation has been tied up in the justice system for over five years. Clashes with local ranchers and suicides, apparently because of the lack of a homeland, are common. In March 2006, Kaiowa tribes members killed two policemen at a different Kaiowa location in the state.(Australfoto/Douglas Engle)

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