Paulinho Paiakan

Paulinho Paiakan (1955 – 16 June 2020) was a leader of the Kayapo people, an indigenous tribe of Brazil. He led the Kayapo in their protests against the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

Background Paiakan was hired by the Brazilian government in 1971 to facilitate the construction of the Trans-Amazonian highway system through Kayapo lands. Once Paiakan saw the nature of the project first hand, he quit his job and began to mobilize his people against the project.

The World Bank announced that it would not grant Brazil a loan for the project following this campaign and the subsequent protest at Altamira.

Rape charge and subsequent trial In 1992, Paiakan was accused of raping a young white woman whom he had hired to tutor his children. He was accused of biting off the nipples and inserting both hands in the woman's vagina, among other things. In 1994, Paiakan was acquitted, but in a 1999 retrial, he was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison.

Personal life and death Paiakan was the brother of activist Tuíre Kayapó and the father of aspiring politician Maial Panhpunu Paiakan.

Paiakan died on 16 June 2020, at the Hospital Público Regional do Araguaia in Redenção, Pará, from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. He was around 65 years old at the time of his death. He worked closely with another Brazilian COVID-19 victim, Missias Kokama.