Da Silva is a member of the Amazon's Guajajara tribe in the Brazilian state of Maranhão and the leader of an armed group of Indigenous forest protectors called the Guardians of the Forest. Activists expressed outrage Sunday at the killing of an indigenous “guardian of the forest” in Brazil’s Amazon and called on the government to thwart illegal loggers in the region.

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters Guajajara forest guardians gather during a search for illegal loggers on Araribóia indigenous land in Maranhão state, Brazil, on September 17, 2019.