“The descendants remain to rewrite this story”: The Laklãnõ/Xokleng presence in the city of Orleans, SC

Abstract

Whether through official discourse, historiography, or the collective imagination of its people, the identity of Santa Catarina is repeatedly linked to its European descendants, particularly German and Italian. However, in order for this identity to be forged, the history of the Laklãnõ/Xokleng people was systematically erased and relegated to a distant past, obscuring the violence inflicted upon them by the process of colonization of the territory. This article seeks to analyze the narrative disputes surrounding the history of the city of Orleans, based on the speech delivered by the Xokleng writer and poet Wanderley Baptista at the city council chamber in 2024, as well as how such narratives are instrumentalized in the formation of Orleans’ identity, in line with the state’s identity.