The Quilombos of Brazil

Looking through a National Geographic issue last weekend, I found a fascinating article about the history of Brazil. It told the story of mixed Indian and African communities, many of which have their origins hundreds of years ago, when African slaves brought over for the sugar plantations or mines escaped into the forest, where they met Indians and established small communities.

Did you know that Brazil brought over 12 times as many slaves from Africa than all of North America combined? And that many died within the first 5 years of working? I had no idea myself, but it makes sense why many slaves tried hard to escape. The communities they formed, quilombos as they are known, were home to many people during the period of colonization. The most famous, Palmares, in the 1600s was 10000 square kilometers and contained as many as 30000 people - pretty much its own kingdom!

These quilombos persisted in relative isolation for several centuries, many getting their start as early as the 1600s. In fact, in 1988, there was believed to be only a few remnant quilombos, and the President at the time issued a decree saying that Brazil would issue title deeds to quilombos, making these people at last the legal owners of the land their family had lived on for many years. The government was taken aback by how many claims for land came forward ~ as of 2012, 1700 quilombos had been recognized by Brazil.

Most quilombos are in the coastal regions of Brazil, but you can see from the map below that there are also some in Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, where the Pantanal is located.

Palani