Life for Brazil's Krenak after Fundao dam collapse

How Brazil's worst environmental disaster changed the lives of indigenous Krenak tribe

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on the banks of the Rio Doce. Listen to this page using ReadSpeaker Share via Facebook Share via Twitter Comments Print The land of the Krenak had dozens of streams and springs, but now nearly all have run dry [Patrik Camporez/Agencia Publica] byLuisa Torre byPatrik Camporez Minas Gerais, Brazil - "Do not speak of Samarco. The word is cursed, just as the river is cursed." The warning came from an agent of Brazil's National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) which oversees the country's indigenous people, including the villages of the Krenak tribe who live on the banks of the Rio Doce, which runs through the mining heartland of Minas Gerais. The FUNAI agent was referring to the mining company Samarco, a joint venture between Brazil's mining giant Vale and Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton. On November 5, 2015, a sea of toxic mud and mineral waste flooded out of the Fundao dams operated by Samarco, killing 19 people, destroying homes and polluting waterways. Since the flood, which is widely regarded as Brazil's worst ever environmental disaster, life on the riverbank has been completely transformed. READ MORE: Brazil's Fundao dam collapse - The silence after the mud Before the disaster, the 126 indigenous families who lived in the seven villages would hunt fish, capybaras, armadillos and other animals, and use the Rio Doce for drinking water and to irrigate their crops. Now they eat beef, chicken and pork bought at nearby supermarkets. After the mud arrived, Samarco prohibited the tribe from fishing and installed a fence to keep the tribespeople from approaching the sacred waters of the "Watu", as the Rio Doce in known in the Krenak language. Following complaints, the fence was removed. The children now bathe in a water tank installed by Samarco. The death of the Watu has caused the Krenak to lose their identity. The arrival of the mud has disrupted the tribe's ability to produce handicrafts, a big source of income. The oba, a seed found on the banks of the Rio Doce, was also contaminated. "We live to hunt and to fish and now we cannot," says Dejanira Krenak, 67, one of the village elders. "The river has many fish; our native diet is fish. But for us, the river died." READ MORE: Kenya's Ogiek win land case against government