Nega Pataxó

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 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. Her brother, Nailton Pataxó, was the chief of the community. Pataxó studied education at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, and later worked as a professor.

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. Her death occurred 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.

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.

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.

Recognition 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.

A podcast series about Pataxó's life and death, entitled Nega Pataxó: Nosso Luto é Luta , was released in 2026, supported by the Pulitzer Centre.