"We know it is a risk for us to gather in the middle of the pandemic. But we have no choice. Either we protest, or we perish. And so we protest."

This week, Indigenous peoples from across Brazil are assembling in the nation's capital for a demonstration they have named the Struggle for Life Camp. They are gathering to insist that their existence and voice be recognized and respected.

One of the central goals of the Struggle for Life Camp is to mobilize against the attacks on Indigenous land rights that are being rammed through Congress and the judiciary. Right now, they are facing down a renewed attempt to legitimize the so-called "marco temporal" clause, a patently unconstitutional "time limit trick" that severely weakens the constitutional rights of Indigenous peoples to their land.

Under the "marco temporal" clause, Indigenous peoples would lose their constitutional right to lands that were not physically occupied in 1988 – the year of when the latest Brazilian Constitution was adopted. This ignores the centuries of violent displacement of Indigenous peoples from their lands and their subsequent exclusion from engaging in legal and political acts up until Brazil's dictatorship ended in 1988.