Near Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, demonstrators representing the country's indigenous peoples blocked the main highway with burning tires and used bows and arrows to confront police, who dispersed them with tear gas.

It is reported by Reuters.

The incident came amid protests against a bill that could deny local Indians the right to receive protected status for their ancestral lands.

The amendments to the legislation would only allow reservations to be established on lands that were occupied by indigenous communities before 1988, when Brazil adopted its constitution.

The establishment of the reservation provides indigenous communities with legal protections that can deter illegal loggers and gold miners from invading their land.

These figures have risen sharply under the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who has called for commercial agriculture and mining even on recognized reservations.

Indigenous leaders want President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in last year's election, to defend some 300 territories that were defined many years ago but still not officially recognized.

Indigenous groups from across the country have planned a week of protests outside Congress in the capital Brasilia.

Earlier, the team of the new Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva filed a lawsuit against ex-head of state Jair Bolsonaro, his accomplice and two sons.

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