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Maria de Fátima Muniz de Andrade (died 21 January 2024), known by her indigenous name Nega Pataxó, was a Brazilian indigenous leader and shaman. A member of the Pataxó-hã-hã-hãe and Tupinambá peoples, she campaigned for the demarcation of indigenous lands in Brazil. In 2024, Pataxó was shot and killed while attempting to reclaim ancestral Pataxó land in southern Bahia.
Personal life
[edit]Pataxó was the spiritual leader of the Pataxó-hã-hã-hãe and Tupinambá peoples living in Caramuru-Paraguaçu, an indigenous territory in the south of Bahia state in northeastern Brazil.[1][2][3] Her brother, Nailton Pataxó, was the chief of the community.[1][4][5] Pataxó studied education at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, and later worked as a professor.[2] She lived in Ourinho, a village within Caramuru-Paraguaçu, at the time of her death.[5]
Activism
[edit]Pataxó campaigned for over forty years for the demarcation of Pataxó-hã-hã-hãe land in Bahia, as well as against deforestation within Caramuru-Paraguaçu.[5] She was an advocate for women's rights, stating "if I can defend any woman, I will. with a piece of wood, with a spear, with whatever I have in my hand. I'm not going to let a woman get beaten up next to me. Either both of us get beaten, or I'll hit him too".[3] At the time of her death, Pataxó had been supporting the establishment of the Paraguaçu Association of Indigenous Women, with aimed to be a space to allow indigenous women to become engaged with politics.[5]
Death
[edit]On 20 January 2024, Pataxó and other members of the local indigenous community attempted to retake Fazenda Inhuma, a farm in Potiraguá which was considered to be located on traditional Pataxó-hã-hã-hãe land. The following day, around 200 members of Invasão Zero, a rural militia group comprised primarily of farmers and landowners, surrounded the area in trucks in an attempt to reclaim the land. Military police, who were present at the scene, did not prevent the attack, with farmers armed with wood, machetes, and guns. Pataxó and her brother were both shot; Pataxó died of her injuries, while her brother was hospitalised but survived the attack.[1][4][3][5][6][7][8][9][10]
José Eugênio Fernandes Amoedo, a farmer's son, was arrested and detained on the day of the shooting on suspicion of killing Pataxó; ballistic tests later confirmed that a bullet from his gun had killed her. A few months after the killing, Fernandes Amoedo was released from pre-trial attention after posting bail.[5][11][5] On 12 August 2025, a court hearing was heard in Brasília after the Public Prosecutor's Office appealed the decision to release suspects of the shooting from pre-trial detention, as well as the defence's attempts to prevent a jury trial.[11] As of January 2026, no one has been charged or help criminally responsible for Pataxó's death.[5]
Sônia Guajajara, the Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Célia Xakriabá, an indigenous member of the Chamber of Deputies, and Joenia Wapichana, the president of Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas, attended Pataxó's funeral.[5]
Response
[edit]Pataxó was the first indigenous activist to be murdered in Brazil in 2024.[12] Her death occured a month after a tribal chief, Lucas Kariri-Sapuyá, had been killed, also in southern Bahia. A photo of Pataxó's body, lying next to her injured brother and still holding a maraca, went viral on social media and was described as being representative of violence against indigenous people.[5]
The Paraguaçu Association of Indigenous Women, co-founded by Pataxó prior to her death, began to campaign against impunity for her killers, led by her sisters, Luzinete and Mayá Pataxó, and her niece, Mônica Tupinambá. In April 2024, with the support of the Laboratory for Research on Bodies, Natures and Senses and the Etinerâncias collective, a care tent was constructed in Brasília in Pataxó's memory. Additional tents were constructed in November 2024 in Salvador and in Brasília again in August 2025 during the National Conference on Indigenous Women. At the conference, a motion was passed criticising the ongoing impunity of Pataxó's killers.[5][11]
In August 2025, ahead of a court hearing in Brasília to determine the ongoing investigation into Pataxó's death, an open letter signed by 340 civil society groups, including Marche mondiale des Femmes and Kuîã Niã Gwasú Tupinambá, demanding justice for Pataxó.[11]
Recognition
[edit]In August 2025, Sônia Guajajara, the Minister for Indigenous Peoples, announced the Nega Pataxó Award, aimed at strengthening autonomy, protection against violence, and the political and cultural participation of indigenous women.[11]
A podcast series about Pataxó's life and death, entitled Nega Pataxó: Nosso Luto é Luta (lit. 'Nega Pataxó: Our Mourning is Struggle'), was released in 2026, supported by the Pulitzer Centre.[3]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "In Memoriam: Remembering 41 Indigenous Defenders Who Were Murdered in 2024 in Latin America". Cultural Survival. 4 March 2025. Archived from the original on 23 March 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Pajé, professora e irmã de cacique: conheça indígena morta durante disputa de terras na Bahia" [Shaman, teacher, and sister of a chief: meet the indigenous woman killed during a land dispute in Bahia]. g1 (in Portuguese). 25 January 2024. Archived from the original on 12 August 2025. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Milanez, Felipe; von der Weid, Olivia (21 January 2026). "Nega Pataxó não virou estatística" [Nega Pataxó didn't become a statistic]. CartaCapital (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 26 January 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Nega Pataxó, lideresa indígena brasileña fue asesinada por ruralistas en disputa por tierras" [Nega Pataxó, Brazilian indigenous leader, was murdered by ruralists in a land dispute]. Ambienta (in Spanish). 25 January 2026. Archived from the original on 23 March 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Milanez, Felipe; von der Weid, Olivia; Duarte Lima, Daniela (28 January 2026). "Nega Pataxó entregou o seu peito à lança: a impunidade do crime do Invasão Zero na Bahia" [Nega Pataxó offered her breast to the spear: the impunity of the Zero Invasion crime in Bahia]. Le Monde diplomatique (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 29 January 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
- ↑ "Brasil. Pueblos originarios: La 'invasión cero' es una milicia y el primer ministro de Bahía es cómplice, dice hermano de indígena asesinada en Bahía" [Brazil. Indigenous peoples: The ‘zero invasion’ policy is a militia and the Prime Minister of Bahia is an accomplice, says brother of indigenous woman murdered in Bahia]. Resumen Latinoamericano (in Spanish). 31 January 2024. Archived from the original on 23 March 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
- ↑ Camargos, Daniel (10 June 2025). "Invasão Zero ensina táticas de violência contra indígenas e sem-terra em fórum na Bahia" [Zero Invasion teaches tactics of violence against indigenous people and landless peasants at a forum in Bahia]. Repórter Brasil (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 27 April 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
- ↑ "Indígena do povo Pataxó Hã Hã Hãe assassinada em retomada no sul da Bahia" [Indigenous woman from the Pataxó Hã Hã Hãe people murdered during land reclamation in southern Bahia]. Ministry of Native People (in Portuguese). 21 January 2024. Archived from the original on 13 February 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
- ↑ Petry, Franciele; Gomes, Thais (24 September 2025). "Gasolina no fogo" [Gasoline on the fire]. Terra de Dereitos (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 9 June 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
- ↑ Krenak, Edson (26 January 2024). "Vítimas da Lei: Morte de Líder Espiritual e Ativista Expõe a Violência das Leis Contra Indígenas na Bahia" [Victims of the Law: Death of Spiritual Leader and Activist Exposes the Violence of Laws Against Indigenous People in Bahia]. Cultural Survival (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 10 May 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Justiça por Nega Pataxó: julgamento decisivo acontece em 12 de agosto em Brasília" [Justice for Nega Pataxó: decisive trial takes place on August 12 in Brasília]. Conselho Indigenista Missionário (in Portuguese). 11 August 2025. Archived from the original on 4 February 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
- ↑ Barbosa, Leandro (23 April 2025). "CPT: Brasil teve pico de tentativas de homicídio, intimidação e ameaça a indígenas em 2024" [CPT: Brazil experienced a peak in attempted homicides, intimidation, and threats against Indigenous people in 2024]. Agência Pública (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 20 May 2026. Retrieved 26 August 2026.