World Indigenous Games draw 2,000 athletes amid protests over groups' rights

Competition among people from more than 20 countries comes as tensions climb in Brazil between indigenous cultures and people of European descent

A indigenous woman protests during the first World Games for Indigenous Peoples. The sign says: ‘SOS! No to the proposed constitutional amendment 215 (PEC 215).’ Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Pataxo Indians from Brazil pull on the rope during the tug of war competition at the World Indigenous Games, in Palmas, Brazil. Photograph: Eraldo Peres/AP

Thursday 29 October 2015

Few sporting pleasures can rival that of the post-victory brag.

Shortly after the Kuikoro had seen off their Amazonian rivals, the Karajá, in arguably the most hotly anticipated event of the first World Games for Indigenous Peoples, the tug-of-war, one of the athletes could not resist emphasising the ease of their 40-second victory.

World Indigenous Games Draw 2,000 Athletes Amid Protests Over Groups' Rights by Thavam Ratna