Paulinho Paiakan
Paulinho Paiakan (1952/1953 – 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. He took a splinter group of his home village and settled a new village named Aukre, where he set out to videotape the destruction of the rainforest and the Kayapo traditions. Paiakan became known on the world stage, touring Europe and North America with public appearances and speaking engagements, sponsored by Friends of the Earth, the World Wildlife Fund and the Kayapo Support Group of Chicago in a campaign against the Altamira Dam project. Speaking at the University of Chicago, he said: The forest is one big thing; it has people, animals, and plants. There is no point saving the animals if the forest is burned down; there is no point saving the forest if the people and animals who live in