Indigenous territory (Brazil)
In Brazil, an indigenous territory or indigenous land (Portuguese: Terra Indígena [ˈtɛhɐ ĩˈdʒiʒẽnɐ], TI) is an area inhabited and exclusively possessed by indigenous people. The Brazilian Constitution recognises the inalienable right of indigenous peoples to lands they "traditionally occupy" and automatically confers them permanent possession of these lands. In practice, however, a formal process of demarcation is required for a TI to gain full protection, and this has often entailed protracted legal battles. Even after demarcation, they are frequently subject to illegal invasions by settlers and mining and logging companies.
There are 672 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 the number of indigenous people in Brazil, about 0.41% of the population; they argue that amount of land reserved as TIs undermines the country's economic development and national security.
As of 2016[update], there are 702 indigenous territories in Brazil, covering 1,172,995 km2 – 14% of the country's land area. For historical reasons—Portuguese colonisation started from 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.
The process of demarcating indigenous territories was established in the 1973 Statute of the Indian and has been revised several times, most recently in 1996. Under the current legal framework, the initial identification and definition of potential TIs 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 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.
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