Up to one-fifth of an uncontacted tribe in Brazil was killed in an alleged massacre by illegal gold miners last month. Women and children were reportedly among the victims.
At least 10 members of the tribe were killed, according to Survival International, HuffPost reported. Funai, Brazil’s agency for indigenous affairs, reported the miners boasted about the killings at a bar in the town nearby and showed off a paddle they took for a trophy.
The miners even said they chopped up the bodies and put them in the river, HuffPost reported.
The tribe members were reportedly gathering eggs near a river in the Javari Valley when the miners came across them.
The miners were allegedly motivated by greed and wanted to take the tribe’s land to mine for gold there, The Sun reported. The area where the massacre occurred is part of an indigenous reserve.
It is the second massacre to be investigated this year, prosecutor Pablo Luz de Beltrand said, The Sun reported. The first one took place in February.
Adelson Kora Kanamari of the Warikama Djapar tribe, said indigenous people’s situation in the area was “very critical,” HuffPost reported.
The exact number of deaths is difficult to pinpoint because some killings may be done in isolation.
“These tribes are uncontacted — even Funai has only sporadic information about them. So it’s difficult work that requires all government departments working together,” Beltrand said, The Sun reported.
Funai’s budget has been slashed by Brazilian President Michel Temer’s administration, which was described by Survival International as “fiercely anti-Indian” and having close ties to anti-indigenous groups, HuffPost reported.
Twitter did not look kindly on the murderers.
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