WHEN Brazil’s constitution was adopted in 1988, five years was meant to be enough to decide which areas should be declared Amerindian tribal lands. Nearly 25 years later, the country has 557 indigenous territories covering 13% of its area, most of them in the Amazon. But more than 100 others are still being considered. The delay is causing conflict in long-farmed regions farther south.

In the past month several Terena Indians have been injured and one killed in confrontations with police and farmers in Sidrolândia in Mato Grosso do Sul (see map). It is just the latest flashpoint in a heavily agricultural state that is home to less than a tenth of Brazil’s 900,000 Indians, but more than half of those murdered since 2003. Federal security forces have been sent to keep the peace at Sidrolândia. Funai, the agency that advises the federal government on demarcation, is under fire in Congress and faces losing some of its powers. On June 7th its boss stepped down, citing ill health.

Funai started studying the region the Terena tribe claims as its ancestral home in 1993. In 2001 it proposed an indigenous territory of 17,200 hectares (42,500 acres). Landowners whose farms fell within it challenged the decision in court; some have titles dating from 1928, when the government ceded 2,090 hectares to the tribe and encouraged settlers to farm neighbouring land. Since then Funai, the justice ministry, the public prosecutor’s office and various judges have argued over the territory’s status. Last year owners of some of the 33 affected farms won a ruling granting them continued possession.

The Terena, supported by Funai, continue to lay claim to the land. Last month they invaded several disputed farms. During a failed attempt by police to evict them from one owned by a former state politician, an Indian was killed. On June 4th another was shot in the back on a neighbouring property. He is unlikely to walk again. The evictions have now been suspended and the occupations continue. The justice ministry is trying to gather together local and federal politicians and tribal leaders to negotiate an end to the impasse.

Nobody has a good word for Funai. The Indians themselves complain about its dilatoriness in identifying lands they “traditionally occupy”. Contas Abertas, a public-spending watchdog, points out that much of its budget for demarcation studies regularly goes unspent. Kátia Abreu, a senator and president of the national farmers’ association, accuses it of bias against landowners and of inciting Indians to invade farms. André Puccinelli, the governor of Mato Grosso do Sul, describes it as “incompetent” and wants the government to compensate farmers for the land they lose.

Brazil’s powerful farm lobby is now trying to change the constitution to give Congress the final say over future demarcations. That would probably mean few or no more indigenous territories. The government wants the power to demarcate territories to remain with the justice minister and the presidency. But in states where Funai’s rulings are fiercely contested, such as Mato Grosso do Sul, it plans to start seeking second opinions from agencies seen as friendlier to farmers. That might make decisions fairer—but no speedier.