Claimed Causes
The specific incident that caused the garimpeiros to attack the Yanomami is uncertain and accounts vary. A former tuxua (chief) of Haximu named Antonio claimed that the garimpeiros attacked his people after they stole a hammock from the miners. However, it was also reported that he claimed that 20 people from his tribe were killed, which was later proven to be false.
Furthermore, reports by major media exaggerated the number of Yanomami who were killed, based on the account of the first Brazilian to visit the village. He claimed at a press conference to have seen several decapitated bodies there. which somehow led people to believe that 73 Yanomami had died. However, due to the inability to locate the bodies, discovering later that the Yanomami burned the bodies for mourning rituals and interviews with survivors by Bruce Albert historians and scholars have deemed this portrayal to be incorrect.
Read more about this topic: Haximu Massacre
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