The mysterious fate of a small Yanomami indigenous community in the northern Brazilian state of Roraima left much of the country puzzled, outraged, and keen for answers in recent weeks.
On April 28, in response to allegations that a 12-year-old Yanomami girl had been raped and murdered by gold miners after being taken from a village on the Aracaçá River, agents from the Federal Police and indigenous authorities visited the community and were left dumbstruck by what they found. The village had been torched, and the 25-strong community was nowhere to be seen.
Júnior Hekurari Yanomami, an indigenous leader...