Hundreds of Indigenous people celebrated in Brasilia Thursday, after a majority of Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled against efforts to restrict native peoples’ rights to reservations on their ancestral lands – a win for Indigenous activists and climate campaigners.
The judges were evaluating a lawsuit brought by Santa Catarina state, backed by farmers, seeking to block an Indigenous group from expanding the size of its territorial claim.
Nearly all of the high court’s justices voted to support the Indigenous group, which has far-reaching implications for territories nationwide.
Since taking office in January, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has given significantly more attention to the demands of Indigenous peoples than his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
