Indiaca was "discovered" in 1936 by a German teacher J. H. Krohn in Rio de Janeiro, where it was played mostly on the beach. Local natives called the shuttlecock "Peteka" andn manufactured it in various forms, mostly in the shape of pear from the stapled pieces of skin. The ball was then filled with sawdust and the feathers were inserted in it. At first, Indiaca spread across Germany and later it also came to other countries. It has gained a great popularity primarily in Japan, but also in Estonia and Slovakia. In 2000, the International Association of Indiaca (IIA) was founded in Berlin. Just a year later, the first World Championship was held.
Nowadays, also a so-called Beach-Indiaca is evolving. However, this is nothing new, because, as I have already stated, the original inhabitants of Brazil played Indiaca mainly on the beach.
(http://www.fsps.muni.cz/impact/netradicni-hry/nontraditional-games.pdf)