When Jair Bolsonaro became president of Brazil on 1 January, the country’s indigenous peoples braced themselves for the worst. Bolsonaro had promised that not another centimetre of indigenous land would be protected under his leadership. He announced his intention to forcibly integrate indigenous peoples and said it was “a shame that the Brazilian cavalry wasn’t as efficient as the Americans, who exterminated the Indians”.

There are two important lessons we can take from the first 100 days of the Bolsonaro presidency. The first is that all fears were well-founded: his administration is launching an unprecedented attack on Brazil’s indigenous peoples with the explicit aim of destroying them, forcibly assimilating them and plundering their land.

The second is that, despite this, there is some hope that this assault can be stopped. Brazil’s institutions, courts and congress can provide legal and practical stops, if they have the will. Indigenous people are organising and mobilising against the onslaught on a local and national scale – and they have already won some notable victories.

On his first day in office, Bolsonaro took the responsibility for the demarcation and regulation of indigenous territories away from the Indigenous Affairs Department and handed it to the Ministry of Agriculture. This move was clearly intended to bring to a halt any further protection of indigenous lands, and has indeed done so. The president’s new agriculture minister is Tereza Cristina Corrêa da Costa Dias, a former head of the parliamentary agribusiness group, who accepted a campaign donation from a landowner previously charged with ordering the killing of an indigenous leader. The department official in charge of land issues is Nabhan Garcia, a right-wing former head of the Union of Democratic Ruralists who has fought against the demarcations of indigenous territory for decades.

But the new regulations are not yet set in law. The order stands for 120 days and then must pass through congress. As well as the legislature, the judiciary can play a key role in moderating the worst of Bolsonaro’s excesses. The Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) filed a case with the Supreme Court at the end of January challenging Bolsonaro’s decision to give the agriculture ministry authority to determine reservation boundaries. The court has yet to rule on this particular case, but Brazil’s judges have shown they are willing to stand up to the president.

Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Show all 20 1 /20 Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Indigenous Macuxi children play at the community of Maturuca on the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation, Roraima state, Brazil Photos Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat The Macuxi fear the return of farmers, illegal gold miners and poachers, all of whom are emboldened by President Jair Bolsonaro’s rhetoric and his moves to weaken their rights Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat A child from an indigenous tribe eats a watermelon Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Children play in Uailan river in Romaira state Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Chief Aldenir Lima, the leader of the 70 communities on the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation next to a monument honouring the tribes and their struggle to secure land rights Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Sideneia Francisco de Lima, 15, looks out of her house on the reservation Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Indigenous Macuxi children dance in a ceremony for indigenous leaders Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Macuxi people play football on the reservation Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat ‘I want to ask the new president Jair Bolsonaro to respect indigenous people and our constitutional rights,’ says community leader Tereza Pereira de Souza, her hair crowned with a headdress of yellow feathers. ‘It took us 30 years to get our land borders legally recognised and registered’ Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat The night sky above the reservation. Brazil’s 900,000 indigenous people make up less than 1 per cent of the population and live on reservations that account for 13 per cent of the territory Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Macuxi leader Orlando Pereirana da Silva, 73, weighs cattle meat at the community of Uailan Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat A Macuxi cowboy stands on a rock Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Bolsonaro says they live in abject poverty and hunger and should be assimilated instead of being confined to reservations like ‘zoo animals’ Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Any attempt to change the reservation’s legal status would likely be opposed by the Supreme Court on the grounds that Brazil’s 1988 Constitution protects indigenous land rights Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat A teacher writes on a board at an indigenous cultural centre Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Anthropologists warn that removing protections would destroy the traditions and languages of the Macuxi and four other related tribes on the reservation Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat ‘Nature is our life, our blood and our spirit, because it gives us sustenance,’ says Martinho de Souza, a Macuxi shaman. ‘We were born on this land, we live here and we will die here.’ Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Nearby, in the shaman’s village of Tamanduá, chickens run about. The village is named after a type of anteater, a large mammal in danger of extinction Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat A Macuxi woman takes a shower Reuters Brazilian tribal lands under new threat Macuxi leader Tuchaua Gilmario Pereira in a blue feather headdress Reuters

Very worryingly, however, the government has also threatened to withdraw Brazil from the key international law on tribal and indigenous peoples’ rights, known as ILO Convention 169. This would further weaken indigenous rights and remove important independent, international scrutiny. Brazil ratified Convention 169 in 2002; it has since been used in rulings by judges and by public prosecutors who have the constitutional obligation to prosecute the state when it violates indigenous rights.

The government has invoked “national security” to trample over the constitutional rights of indigenous people. The Waimiri Atroari tribe are objecting to a power line being built across more than 100 kilometres of their land without their consent, which, though it will transport electricity to cities such as Manaus, will not provide energy to tribal settlements within the reserve. The government has announced that the project will commence on 30 June. Members of the tribe are still fighting the decision.

Brazil is the deadliest country in the world for environmental defenders, but violence directed at indigenous people can’t be explained simply as a battle over resources: in many cases, it is quite obviously hate crime. On the night of Bolsonaro’s election victory, for example, a health centre and a school were firebombed on Pankararu lands in the northeast of the country.

There are dozens of reports from all over Brazil of what sometimes seems like open warfare against indigenous communities. In an attempt to stifle NGOs who oppose his interests, Bolsonaro has issued a decree that government authorities can “supervise, coordinate, monitor and accompany the activities and actions of international organisations and non-governmental organisations in the national territory”. Environmental groups have been threatened with expulsion and Ricardo Salles, the new environment minister, has tried to suspend all government partnerships with NGOs in the country for three months. He believes that protected Amazon areas hold up “development” and is advocating commercial farming and mining on indigenous reserves, including those where uncontacted tribes live, which would almost certainly wipe them out.

The administration even launched an attack on indigenous health. The regime proposed to end the indigenous healthcare system (Sesai), a decentralised care model with 34 special indigenous health districts, run in collaboration with local communities and tailored to their needs. Instead, indigenous patients would just access the same (already inadequate and over-stretched) municipal services as everyone else in the district. The proposal sparked outrage and protest among indigenous peoples all over the country. They are fearful for their lives – and especially those of their children and elderly. They are rightly worried about the lack of provision for indigenous languages and are concerned their needs could not be met by a system designed by and for people living very different lifestyles, with staff who knew nothing of their own circumstances.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Support free-thinking journalism and subscribe to Independent Minds

So from Paraná to Rondônia, from Pernambuco to Mato Grosso do Sul, indigenous groups occupied public buildings and highways in support of Sesai. The minister backed down and made public assurances that the indigenous healthcare system would not be abolished after all, only a week or so after the proposition was first floated.

The importance of fighting alongside tribal people cannot be overstated: Brazil’s lawmakers, those judges, mayors, congressmen and others, are not deaf to voices raised around the world at injustices taking place on their watch.