The Brazilian Indigenous Problem and Policy: The Example of the Xingu National Park

In 1971 a road linking Brasilia with Manaus was constructed so that it crossed the Xingu Park. In 1973 another road violation of the national park was on the way. The present publication illustrates Brazilian natives policy at the time of these violations and indicates the difficulty of solving the problem of the final remaining indigenous population of this country. Xingu Park was at the time of the writing of this publication the only patch of Brazilian soil, which was totally and exclusively reserved for the indigenous population, and where this population can at all times count on the assistance and protection owed to it by the responsible body. The majority of the other reservations are partially occupied and exploited by civilized people numbering more than the Indians themselves, who due to the lack of means and especially of qualified, devoted and disinterested personnel, are insufficiently or not at all assisted and even less protected.