The Kaingang (also spelled ''caingangue'' in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

or ''kanhgág'' in the

Kaingang language The Kaingang language (also spelled Kaingáng) is a Southern Jê language ( Jê, Macro-Jê) spoken by the Kaingang people of southern Brazil. The Kaingang nation has about 30,000 people, and about from 60% to 65% speak the language. Most also s ...

) people are an Indigenous Brazilian ethnic group spread out over the three southern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul and the southeastern state of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

. They are also called Caingang and Aweikoma, though the Kaingang and Aweikoma ( Xokleng) are now considered separate groups. The Kaigang people were the original first inhabitants of the province of Misiones in Argentina. Their language and culture is quite distinct from the neighboring

Guaraní Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to Ethnography * Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) * Guaraní language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay * ...

. It has been stated that the Kaingang rarely live long in one place causing them to move a lot, but some sources, such as Juracilda Veiga and ethnographic registers (José Francisco Tomás do Nascimento 1886, Telêmaco Borba 1908 etc.), indicate that Kaingang groups have a crucial relation with the land where they were born and their ancestors were buried. The

is a member of the Jê family.

Copel agreement

In November 2006

's state-owned power company,

Copel Copel - Companhia Paranaense de Energia is a Brazilian electric utility company, the largest company of the State of Paraná, founded on October 26, 1954 with ownership control held by the State of Paraná. The Company went public in April 1994 ...

, agreed to compensate the group 6.5 million dollars for operating a

small hydro Small hydro is the development of hydroelectric power on a scale suitable for local community and industry, or to contribute to distributed generation in a regional electricity grid. Exact definitions vary, but a "small hydro" project is less ...

plant in the Apucaraninha Reservation. The company finally gave in to a settlement after the natives carried two barrels full of fuel into the plant's machine room and threatened to destroy the plant. This is part of a larger trend of indigenous groups challenging energy projects according to

Platts S&P Global Commodity Insights is a provider of energy and commodities information and a source of benchmark price assessments in the physical commodity markets. The business was started with the foundation in 1909 of the magazine ''National Pet ...

Copel agreement

See also

Footnotes

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References