Photo Essay: The Murder of Chief Merong

The lush forests of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais veil a region rich in wild rivers and cultural heritage. As the name, which translates to General Mines, suggests, it is also home to abundant mineral wealth. The state harbors the highest concentration of mining operations in Brazil. Here, in the country’s shadowy epicenter of resource extraction, hidden beneath a verdant canopy, persists an age-old conflict between those committed to protecting the land and those who seek to profit from its destruction.

Brazil is the second-largest iron producer in the world. Each day, trucks cart thousands of tons of ore from the mountains of Mina Gerais, which together with the state of Pará, accounts for 98% of the country’s total production.

Chief Merong was a respected leader of the Kamakã Mongoió tribe, a family of the Pataxo Ha-Ha-Hae people who were displaced decades ago from their home in the state of Bahia. In 2021, he led his people to Minas Gerais to claim and protect land owned by Vale, a Brazilian mining company with a sordid history of environmental degradation that includes repeated dam failures blamed on negligence and poor oversight.

In 2015, a Vale-operated dam near the city of Mariana burst, unleashing 15.8 billion gallons of toxic mudflow that killed 19 people and devastated communities for miles down the Doce River. Four years later, the company’s Córrego do Feijão tailings dam failed, releasing 3.1 billion gallons of mining byproduct and killing 272 people.

Locals in the Minas Gerais city of Brumadinho have a fraught relationship with Vale. The company provides well-paying jobs and has contributed, directly or indirectly, to improving local schools, health care and infrastructure. But these economic benefits have also scarred the landscape and undermined long-term sustainability. Pollution and land-use changes have compromised fishing and agriculture, once staples of local subsistence.

Geraldo Oliveira Silva is a Brumadinho resident and Vale employee who lost his brother in the 2019 dam collapse. He expressed both deep gratitude for the economic opportunities and profound betrayal. “What are we to do?” he says. “We need jobs, and yet, these jobs could cost us our lives.”

Chief Merong said the Great Spirit called him through a series of dreams to protect the land and sacred waters surrounding Brumadinho from destruction at the hands of Vale. “This land is meant for us to live on, for our children to bathe in the river and receive a special education,” he declared as his people reestablished the Kamakã Mongoió village.

Backed by social justice advocates, such as Father Gilvander Moreira, Merong publicly resisted Vale’s claim to the land, arguing that despite the company’s legal title, it did not have the right to destroy land that had belonged to generations of Indigenous people. Although the courts eventually sided with Vale, the Kamakã Mongoió refused to leave and remained determined to defend the territory from further exploitation.

When I met him in 2022, Merong spoke about the clarity of his conviction. “The Spirit guided us here. There is a spring for us to draw from and protect for future generations,” he said. He shared stories of surveillance and the intimidation his people faced: drones buzzing overhead and strange men appearing with veiled threats. “These aren’t just intrusions; they’re direct assaults on our sovereignty and well-being,” he told me.

On March 3, 2024, Chief Merong was found hanged near his village. The news of his death sent shockwaves through the Indigenous community and the wider Brumadinho region, where it has intensified calls for justice and further investigation.

The tragedy fits into a larger, menacing trend. At least 126 human rights and environmental defenders were murdered in Latin America in 2023, according to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. That’s one murder every three days in Latin America alone. Globally, Indigenous people face heightened danger. Despite making up just 5% of the world’s population, they account for 40% of its murdered land and water defenders, according to Global Witness. The Kamakã Mongoió and other Indigenous people are on the frontlines of efforts to protect what we all depend upon, and yet they face the greatest risk for reprisal. 

On Nov. 14, a Brazilian federal court cleared Vale and other companies of criminal liability for the 2015 Mariana dam collapse, citing insufficient evidence for individual responsibility. The decision underscores ongoing challenges in holding corporations accountable, raising concerns for communities like Brumadinho and the Kamakã Mongoió people who continue to fight for justice.

The struggles in Brazil echo similar stories from around the globe, highlighting the crucial role of environmental defenders in safeguarding our planet. Their courage in the face of immense challenges calls for a renewed commitment to justice, solidarity and sustainable practices that honor the profound relationship between people and the planet.