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| Guarani-Kaiowá | |
|---|---|
| Group | Guarani-Kaiowá |
| Regions | Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraguay, Argentina |
| Languages | Guarani, Portuguese |
| Religions | Indigenous beliefs, Catholicism, Evangelicalism |
Guarani-Kaiowá The Guarani-Kaiowá are an Indigenous people of South America concentrated in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, with communities in Paraguay and Argentina. They are related to other Guarani groups and have been central to regional debates involving land rights, agribusiness, and human rights organizations. Long-standing disputes over territory have involved Brazilian institutions, international bodies, and civil society actors.
The Guarani-Kaiowá inhabit areas near the Pantanal, Paraná River, and Iguaçu River regions and are part of the wider Guarani linguistic and cultural family associated with groups such as Mbya Guarani, Chiriguanos, and Ava Guaraní. Their territory overlaps with municipalities like Dourados, Ponta Porã, and Amambai and with agricultural frontiers dominated by entities such as Soja Brasil S/A-type agribusiness, large landowners represented by organizations like the Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil and political actors in the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil). NGOs such as Survival International and Amnesty International have highlighted their situation alongside Brazilian bodies including the Fundação Nacional do Índio and the Supremo Tribunal Federal.
The pre-contact history of the Guarani-Kaiowá links to migrations across the Gran Chaco and the Atlantic Forest before contact with Spanish and Portuguese colonizers, Jesuit missions such as those associated with Jesuit reductions, and conflicts during the Paraguayan War and the War of the Triple Alliance. During the 20th century they faced dispossession tied to the expansion of cattle ranching and soybean cultivation promoted under governments including the Vargas Era and the Military dictatorship in Brazil (1964–1985), and legal contests in courts like the Superior Tribunal de Justiça and international appeals to bodies such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
They speak varieties of the Guarani language in addition to Portuguese; linguistic features connect them to classical Guarani texts like those by Afonso d'Escragnolle Taunay and contemporary scholars such as Aryon Dall'Igna Rodrigues and Heitor de Mesquita. Cultural practices include rites comparable to those documented in ethnographies by Darcy Ribeiro and Claude Lévi-Strauss, syncretic religious expressions involving Catholic figures like Nossa Senhora Aparecida and Pentecostal movements tied to organizations such as Assembleia de Deus. Artistic traditions include weaving and music that resonate with regional festivals such as the Festa Junina and craft markets in cities like Campo Grande.
Guarani-Kaiowá social structure centers on extended family clusters and leadership by traditional figures analogous to caciques and shamans noted in studies by Manuel Vicente de Azevedo and anthropologists from institutions such as the Museu Nacional (Brazil), Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, and Universidade de São Paulo. Leadership interacts with municipal governments like those of Dourados and federal ministries such as the Ministério da Justiça through organizations like the Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil and regional councils similar to the Conselho Indigenista Missionário.
Territorial disputes involve claims under constitutional provisions adjudicated in forums including the Supremo Tribunal Federal and administrative processes at the Fundação Nacional do Índio, with high-profile cases attracting attention from United Nations special rapporteurs and human rights NGOs like Human Rights Watch. Conflicts have occurred near farms owned by families and companies linked to agribusiness federations and private militias sometimes reported in investigations by media outlets including Folha de S.Paulo, O Globo, and international press such as The Guardian. Efforts to demarcate lands reference precedents such as the 1988 Constitution of Brazil and rulings involving land demarcation policy debated in the National Congress (Brazil).
Traditional subsistence comprises hunting, fishing, shifting cultivation, and gathering akin to practices described in studies by Edivaldo Santana and Gilberto Freyre; staple crops include manioc and maize cultivated in community plots and agroforestry systems comparable to projects supported by organizations like FAO and CONAB. Economic pressures from monoculture expansion driven by commodity markets traded on exchanges such as B3 (stock exchange) and exports routed through ports like Port of Santos have altered livelihoods, pushing some community members toward wage labor in sugarcane, cattle ranches, and logging operations regulated by agencies like the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis.
Contemporary activism engages national and international actors including leaders allied with movements such as the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra and legal advocates connected to organizations like Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil and law firms filing petitions in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Media campaigns leverage coverage in outlets like BBC News, Reuters, and New York Times while solidarity comes from universities and cultural institutions such as Universidade de Brasília and Museu do Índio. Health challenges have prompted collaboration with public health bodies like the Ministério da Saúde and NGOs including Médicos Sem Fronteiras; climate impacts on the Pantanal and agricultural frontiers involve scientific institutions such as the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais and international climate bodies like the IPCC.