Although roughly a hundred farmers left the land once the reserve was announced, some large-scale operations have continued to occupy parts of the territory.
Aldenir Kadete, a Wapichana Indian and a member of CIR, took the footage of the recent conflict.
According to CIR, a group of about a hundred Makuxi arrived at a nonproductive part of Quartiero's farm around 5 a.m. local time on May 5.
The Indians built four sheds as if they were putting up a new settlement in an attempt to force Quartiero's operations to leave the land.
Quartiero told O Globo newspaper that he had not been on the scene when the Makuxi arrived, but that he had been notified that Indians were invading his farm with bows and arrows.
"When employees tried to remove them, they shot arrows back. So there was reaction and people were injured," he said at the time.
When the Makuxi refused to leave the farm, about 20 of Quartiero's employees left and came back riding four motorcycles and driving an SUV, according to Survival International.
"They got off and immediately started throwing bombs," said Tereza Pereira de Souza of the CIR, who witnessed the attack.
Quartiero was arrested after the incident and held for ten days, but he has since been released.
Police report finding a large cache of weapons on his farm, of which he denies any knowledge.
Slow to Decide
Brazil's 615 Indian reserves currently add up to 262 million acres (106 million hectares)—nearly 12.5 percent of the country's land.
The federal government has promised to set aside 127 more reserves by 2010, including 29 territories that will be designated this year.
For years farmers have been opposing continued demarcation for indigenous groups, which forces farmers to abandon large regions of cropland.
Sydney Possuelo, former president of Brazil's Indian-protection agency FUNAI, said that slowness in the justice system is one of the main underlying causes for tension between farmers and indigenous groups.
"Decisions take up to 20, 25 years," he said. "Slowness favors the whites, because during such a long time without legal decision, they establish themselves and consolidate their positions in the lands."
Besides the conflict in Raposa Serra do Sol, FUNAI has registered confrontations between Ianomâmi Indians and miners in Roraima and Amazonas states.
Miners and timber merchants have also caused problems for Kayapó Indians at Serra do Cachimbo Reserve.
And in Pará state, land developers and timber merchants clashed with Tembé Indians in Alto Rio Guamá Indigenous Reserve.
According to the indigenous organization Conselho Indigenista Missionário (CIMI), at least 22 Indians have been killed so far this year in confrontations around the country.
A CIMI report released in April found that 92 Indians had been killed between 2006 and 2007.
Watson of Survival International is closely watching the situation with the Makuxi, which she thinks could have ramifications for all of Brazil's indigenous groups.
"Brazilian constitution is on [the Makuxi's] side, but if the Supreme Court ruling goes against the Indians, it will open a precedent and all Indian reserves can be contested in Brazil," Watson said.
"Not only will they lose land that is theirs by right and essential to their survival, but I fear there will be more violent conflict."
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