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Quilombola
A quilombola (Portuguese pronunciation: [kilõˈbɔlɐ]) is an Afro-Brazilian resident of quilombo settlements first established by left behind and escaped slaves in Brazil. They are the descendants of Afro-Brazilian slaves who fled from slave plantations or stay in abandoned lands that existed in Brazil until abolition in 1888. The most famous quilombola was Zumbi and the most famous quilombo was Palmares. Many quilombolas live in poverty.
In the 16th century, slavery was becoming common across the Americas, particularly in Brazil. Africans were kidnapped and shipped across the Atlantic via the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. In Brazil, most worked on sugar plantations and mines, and were brutally tortured. Some slaves were able to escape. According to oral tradition, among them was Aqualtune, a former Angolan princess and general enslaved during a Congolese war. Shortly after reaching Brazil, the pregnant Aqualtune escaped with some of her soldiers and fled to the Serra da Bariga region. It was here that Aqualtune founded a quilombo, or a colony of quilombolas, called Palmares. Palmares was one of the largest quilombos in Brazil.[citation needed]
In the 1630s, Palmares was inherited by Aqualtune's son, Ganga Zumba, who ruled the city from a palace. The inhabitants used African style forges to make metal plows and scythes to harvest fields of corn, rice and manioc and created agricultural forests of palm and breadfruit. Palmares and other quilombos during the quilombola's glory days were surrounded by palisades, camouflaged pits filled with deadly stakes, and paths lined with lacerating caltrops. Palmares was behind many raids of Portuguese ports and towns. Lisbon, seeing Palmares as a direct challenge to its colonial status, declared war on the quilombolas. Twenty attacks on Palmares failed. But the constant attacks wore down Ganga Zumba, and in 1678 he agreed to stop accepting new slaves and move out of the mountains to safety. Ganga Zumba's nephew, Zumbi, saw this as betrayal and poisoned his uncle before tearing up the treaty with the Portuguese. Colonial forces continued the relentless attacks, and in the end Zumbi was unable to cope. In 1694, the Portuguese finally destroyed Palmares and killed hundreds of its citizens, ending the glory days of the quilombolas. Zumbi and Palmares survived only as symbols of resistance.[citation needed]
The Mola quilombo consisted of approximately 300 formerly enslaved people and had a high degree of political, social and military organization. Felipa Maria Aranha was the first leader of the community. The group was also led by Maria Luiza Piriá. It was organised as a republic, with democratic voting in place. Over the course of the Mola quilombo's life, it expanded to include four other similar settlements in the region and was known as the Confederação do Itapocu. In 1895 there were still traces of the settlement to be seen; they have now disappeared. Historians, such as Benedita Pinto and Flávio Gomes, interpret the organisation of the group as an ideal model of resistance to slavery.
Other quilombos emerged during the age of Palmares and the Aqualtune Dynasty. Fleeing slaves befriended and allied with Brazilian Indigenous peoples. Today most of the quilombola population is of mixed African-Brazilian and Indigenous ancestry. Quilombos were mainly located deep in the jungles, far from European influence, and after the fall of Palmares, all the quilombolas either went into hiding or were wiped out by Europeans. Most of the quilombolas remained hidden so successfully it was assumed they had been destroyed or died out. They dropped farming at the risk of being discovered and continued the agricultural forest practice. The quilombolas adopted a lifestyle that was a cross of Portuguese and various Indigenous and African cultures.
Until the 1970s, the quilombolas were mostly unknown internationally and assumed to have been entirely killed off. In 1970s, deforestation reached their lands. Loggers, assuming them to be squatters trying to steal property, forced them off their land at gunpoint and stole their land. They were not recognized as surviving quilombola peoples until the 1980s. Enraged ranchers claimed they were squatters pretending to be quilombolas to get land. Eventually, they were accepted as quilombolas, but ranchers still kept stealing their land. The most avid supporter of the quilombolas was Chico Mendes, who argued for the preservation of the jungle and its Indigenous peoples, including the quilombolas.
In 1988, the current Constitution of Brazil, which included the collective rights of indigenous and quilombola communities to their traditional lands within Article 68 of the constitution's Temporary Constitutional Provisions Act (ADCT), came into force, with the text: "Final ownership shall be recognized for the remaining members of the ancient runaway slave communities who are occupying their lands and the State shall grant them the respective title deeds".
Despite this, it was not until 1995 when INCRA drafted Ordinance nº 307/1995, which laid out a formal legal framework for regulations for the titling of quilombo lands, and the Palmares Cultural Foundation began registration of quilombola communities, that the formal process of recognition of quilombo remnant communities and awarding of title began. However, the ordinance only applied to federally-owned lands, and activists for the quilombo remnant sector experienced greater support from state governments. In 1999, administration of the titling process was transferred to the FCP, which issued its own directive in 2000 for administering the process.
Quilombola
A quilombola (Portuguese pronunciation: [kilõˈbɔlɐ]) is an Afro-Brazilian resident of quilombo settlements first established by left behind and escaped slaves in Brazil. They are the descendants of Afro-Brazilian slaves who fled from slave plantations or stay in abandoned lands that existed in Brazil until abolition in 1888. The most famous quilombola was Zumbi and the most famous quilombo was Palmares. Many quilombolas live in poverty.
In the 16th century, slavery was becoming common across the Americas, particularly in Brazil. Africans were kidnapped and shipped across the Atlantic via the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. In Brazil, most worked on sugar plantations and mines, and were brutally tortured. Some slaves were able to escape. According to oral tradition, among them was Aqualtune, a former Angolan princess and general enslaved during a Congolese war. Shortly after reaching Brazil, the pregnant Aqualtune escaped with some of her soldiers and fled to the Serra da Bariga region. It was here that Aqualtune founded a quilombo, or a colony of quilombolas, called Palmares. Palmares was one of the largest quilombos in Brazil.[citation needed]
In the 1630s, Palmares was inherited by Aqualtune's son, Ganga Zumba, who ruled the city from a palace. The inhabitants used African style forges to make metal plows and scythes to harvest fields of corn, rice and manioc and created agricultural forests of palm and breadfruit. Palmares and other quilombos during the quilombola's glory days were surrounded by palisades, camouflaged pits filled with deadly stakes, and paths lined with lacerating caltrops. Palmares was behind many raids of Portuguese ports and towns. Lisbon, seeing Palmares as a direct challenge to its colonial status, declared war on the quilombolas. Twenty attacks on Palmares failed. But the constant attacks wore down Ganga Zumba, and in 1678 he agreed to stop accepting new slaves and move out of the mountains to safety. Ganga Zumba's nephew, Zumbi, saw this as betrayal and poisoned his uncle before tearing up the treaty with the Portuguese. Colonial forces continued the relentless attacks, and in the end Zumbi was unable to cope. In 1694, the Portuguese finally destroyed Palmares and killed hundreds of its citizens, ending the glory days of the quilombolas. Zumbi and Palmares survived only as symbols of resistance.[citation needed]
The Mola quilombo consisted of approximately 300 formerly enslaved people and had a high degree of political, social and military organization. Felipa Maria Aranha was the first leader of the community. The group was also led by Maria Luiza Piriá. It was organised as a republic, with democratic voting in place. Over the course of the Mola quilombo's life, it expanded to include four other similar settlements in the region and was known as the Confederação do Itapocu. In 1895 there were still traces of the settlement to be seen; they have now disappeared. Historians, such as Benedita Pinto and Flávio Gomes, interpret the organisation of the group as an ideal model of resistance to slavery.
Other quilombos emerged during the age of Palmares and the Aqualtune Dynasty. Fleeing slaves befriended and allied with Brazilian Indigenous peoples. Today most of the quilombola population is of mixed African-Brazilian and Indigenous ancestry. Quilombos were mainly located deep in the jungles, far from European influence, and after the fall of Palmares, all the quilombolas either went into hiding or were wiped out by Europeans. Most of the quilombolas remained hidden so successfully it was assumed they had been destroyed or died out. They dropped farming at the risk of being discovered and continued the agricultural forest practice. The quilombolas adopted a lifestyle that was a cross of Portuguese and various Indigenous and African cultures.
Until the 1970s, the quilombolas were mostly unknown internationally and assumed to have been entirely killed off. In 1970s, deforestation reached their lands. Loggers, assuming them to be squatters trying to steal property, forced them off their land at gunpoint and stole their land. They were not recognized as surviving quilombola peoples until the 1980s. Enraged ranchers claimed they were squatters pretending to be quilombolas to get land. Eventually, they were accepted as quilombolas, but ranchers still kept stealing their land. The most avid supporter of the quilombolas was Chico Mendes, who argued for the preservation of the jungle and its Indigenous peoples, including the quilombolas.
In 1988, the current Constitution of Brazil, which included the collective rights of indigenous and quilombola communities to their traditional lands within Article 68 of the constitution's Temporary Constitutional Provisions Act (ADCT), came into force, with the text: "Final ownership shall be recognized for the remaining members of the ancient runaway slave communities who are occupying their lands and the State shall grant them the respective title deeds".
Despite this, it was not until 1995 when INCRA drafted Ordinance nº 307/1995, which laid out a formal legal framework for regulations for the titling of quilombo lands, and the Palmares Cultural Foundation began registration of quilombola communities, that the formal process of recognition of quilombo remnant communities and awarding of title began. However, the ordinance only applied to federally-owned lands, and activists for the quilombo remnant sector experienced greater support from state governments. In 1999, administration of the titling process was transferred to the FCP, which issued its own directive in 2000 for administering the process.
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