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| Xokleng | |
|---|---|
| Group | Xokleng |
| Regions | Brazil (Santa Catarina), historical presence in Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul |
| Languages | Xokleng language (Guarani–Kaingang family), Portuguese |
| Religions | Indigenous spirituality, Catholic Church, Protestant denominations |
| Related | Kaingang, Guarani, Mbya Guarani |
Xokleng The Xokleng are an Indigenous people of southern Brazil historically located in the highlands and coastal regions of Santa Catarina, with presence in neighboring Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul. They have been documented in contact reports by explorers, missionaries, and colonial administrators across the 18th to 21st centuries, interacting with actors such as the Portuguese Empire, Empire of Brazil, and Federal Republic of Brazil. Contemporary Xokleng communities navigate relations with institutions like the Fundação Nacional do Índio and participate in legal processes under the Brazilian Constitution of 1988.
Multiple exonyms and endonyms have been recorded for the group. Early colonial chronicles used names given by Portuguese Empire chroniclers and by neighboring groups such as Kaingang. Ethnonyms appear in missionary reports from religious orders including the Jesuits and the Capuchins, and in 19th-century travelogues by figures associated with the Imperial Brazilian Army expeditions. Modern legal documents use designations adopted in decisions by the Supremo Tribunal Federal and registries of the Fundação Nacional do Índio.
Pre-contact occupation of the southern Brazilian plateaus by the group is attested by archaeological sequences tied to regional traditions explored in studies involving Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina and international teams. Encounters with colonial forces occurred during the expansion of the Portuguese Empire into southern South America and during frontier conflicts involving the Spanish Empire in the Rio de la Plata region. The group experienced displacement during the 19th-century consolidation of the Empire of Brazil and subsequent waves of European immigration including German Brazilians and Italian Brazilians, as well as land appropriation in eras of coffee and cattle expansion. 20th-century policies under the First Brazilian Republic and later governments involved contact, missionization by the Catholic Church and Protestant missions, and interventions by the Serviço de Proteção aos Índios and later the Fundação Nacional do Índio. Legal recognitions and territorial demarcations advanced amid cases adjudicated by the Supremo Tribunal Federal and discussions in the National Congress of Brazil.
The group's speech variety belongs to the macro-family often treated in comparative works that include Guarani languages and southern macro-family classifications; fieldwork has been conducted by linguists affiliated with Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, and international scholars. Documentation projects have produced grammars, lexicons, and audio archives used in revitalization initiatives linked to cultural programs promoted by institutions such as the Museu Nacional and state secretariats. Bilingual education efforts invoke provisions of the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 and curricular frameworks used in municipal schools in Santa Catarina.
Social organization, ritual life, and material culture have been detailed in ethnographies by researchers associated with Museu Paulista and regional anthropology programs. Kinship systems, creation narratives, musical forms, and craft traditions appear in collections at the Museu do Índio and in exhibitions at the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional. Catholic and Protestant missionary activity—by groups like the Salesians and Methodist Church—has influenced religious syncretism seen in ceremonial calendars. Interethnic relations involve ties with neighboring peoples such as the Kaingang and Mbya Guarani and with rural populations descended from Portuguese and German settlers.
Traditional territories span inland plateaus and coastal ranges mapped in studies by the Instituto Socioambiental and by state land agencies. Demographic surveys by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística and community censuses inform population estimates used in policy-making at the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and in municipal planning. Land demarcation efforts reference precedents in rulings from the Supremo Tribunal Federal and administrative procedures at the Fundação Nacional do Índio; boundaries intersect municipal jurisdictions including Palhoça, Joinville, and other municipalities in Santa Catarina.
Traditional subsistence combined hunting, gathering, fishing, and shifting cultivation documented in ecological studies conducted with the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina and environmental assessments by the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis. Contemporary livelihoods include engagement in wage labor, handicraft production sold via networks including regional markets and cultural institutions such as the Museu Victor Meirelles, and participation in agroecological projects supported by state and federal rural development programs. Natural resource disputes have arisen involving agribusiness actors and municipal governments.
Current issues include territorial demarcation, protection of cultural heritage, health disparities addressed through collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Fundação Nacional de Saúde, and legal claims litigated in the Supremo Tribunal Federal and administrative bodies like the Fundação Nacional do Índio. Activism connects to national Indigenous mobilizations and NGOs such as the Instituto Socioambiental and the Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil. Education and language revitalization projects partner with universities including Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina and international heritage bodies, while land-use conflicts involve state secretariats, municipal councils, and private sector actors.