What is Índia pega no laço?

Índia pega no laço is a phrase common in Brazil that translates to "an Indian woman caught by the lasso". The phrase is often used by non-Indigenous Brazilians who claim that they have an Indigenous female ancestor, often a great-grandmother or great-great-grandmother. The phrase is a reference to Portuguese colonizers using lassos to capture Indigenous Brazilian women. This abduction of the imagined Indigenous female ancestor is often romanticized. The "pega no laço" ancestry myth is often a source of folkloric pride among non-Indigenous Brazilians and is a running gag regarded as humorous. The phrase is often disliked by Indigenous Brazil women.

33% of White Brazilians have indigenous maternal ancestry.