xokleng language：Xokleng

The Xokleng Indians of the sub-group Laklanõ, from Ibirama Indigenous Area (Terra Indígena Ibirama – TII) situated in the highlands of the State of Santa Catarina, are the survivors of the brutal process of colonization in southern Brazil which began in the mid XIX century, and which has been responsible for their almost total extermination. Despite of the extermination of other Xokleng sub-groups who lived in the state of Santa Catarina until the early decades of the XX century, and the confinement of the survivors in reserved areas, in 1914, the Xokleng-Laklanõ were contacted and came together around the TII. This has guaranteed ‘peace’ after decades of fights between Indians and whites, and subsequently, the development and progress of the colonies in the Itajaí River Valley. The Xokleng-Laklanõ still struggle to survived and reproduce themselves physically and socio-culturally, even after the extinction of TII’s natural resources, worsened by the construction of the Northern Dam...