Background
This massacre was the result of tensions surrounding the 1987 gold rush in Brazil, with conflict between Brazilian miners and the Yanomami people.
The Yanomami tribe remained isolated until sometime in the 1960s when anthropologists found and studied the people. Between 1973 and 1976 the Brazilians built the Perimetral Norte through the southern area of the natives’ territory. This road initiated the arrival of gold miners, which includes those that came during a gold rush beginning in 1987.
Scholars studying the history of the gold rushes in Haximu noticed a recurring pattern of activities between the miners and the Yanomami, which Bruce Albert referred to as the “gold mining trap.” When the first few garimpeiros arrived, they provided the Yanomami with charitable gifts. Once the number of miners increased, the balance of power was altered, and they began to consider the Yanomami nuisances. Tensions arose when the Yanomami wanted more Western goods, such as medicine, clothes and food, which they had come to rely on after the miners arrived. As a result, violence often arose between the groups. Such a pattern may have been the reason why the miners attacked the Yanomami.
Read more about this topic: Haximu Massacre
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