during the 1960s the inhabitants of several slums spread across the northern region of rio de janeiro moved the then new nova holanda neighborhood on the western shore of the guanabara bay.

right then they founded a small samba school, the unidos da nova holanda. this created the basis for the eventual development of other similar congregations in the region.

in the 1970s the joyful chorus 'mataram meu gato', or 'they've killed my cat' in english, would become very popular among the local revelers.