During the night of 12 October 2002, about 200 Kaiow� Indians were thrown out of the village of Tey Cu� in an area called Caarap�, and are now camped on the side of a highway near the town of Dourados, under plastic tarpaulins. Their homes and possessions were burned; they now have little food and no access to clean water.
This group of Kaiow� has being trying to recover its land, Taku�ra, for years. The land � in Juti, Mato Grosso do Sul � was stolen from them in 1953 by cattle ranchers who renamed it Fazenda Bras�lia do Sul.
After years of lobbying without success for the authorities to recognise their traditional land in line with the Brazilian constitution, the Indians decided to return to their land in April 1997. They began to rebuild their community and plant gardens. But the ranchers who had occupied the area went to court and a judge ordered the Indians out. In October 2001, more than a hundred heavily armed police and soldiers forced the Indians to leave their land. They were made to settle in Caarap�, an area already populated by other Guarani, supposedly for only a short time while the government's Indians affairs department (FUNAI) negotiated their return to their land. But nothing happened, and the Indians were left stranded on the land of other Guarani, who, because of tensions and a lack of resources, have now expelled them. Taku�ra / Fazenda Bras�lia do Sul has now been identified as an Kaiow� territory � but FUNAI continues to delay demarcating the land, leading to unnecessary anguish and suffering for the community.
The Kaiow� are desperate to return to their sacred land, their tekoha.
Survival is calling on the Brazilian government to take action so that the these Kaiow� may return home. You can help by sending a letter or email.