Measuring Mercury in Their Own Hair

Garimpo — illegal gold mining — has repeatedly overrun Yanomami territory in northern Brazil, bringing mercury, malaria and violence with it. Hutukara Associação Yanomami was created in 2004 to represent scattered Yanomami communities to the outside world, and under Davi Kopenawa it made the invasion internationally visible; in June 2026 he handed the presidency to his son Dário Kopenawa. Rather than wait to be studied, the association has co-produced the evidence: with the Fiocruz health foundation and partner organisations it sampled hair from communities near mining sites and found 84% of 287 samples above 2.0 µg/g of mercury, with 10.8% above the 6.0 µg/g level that demands clinical attention. Its slogan is simply Fora Garimpo — miners out — and the data is what makes it more than a slogan.