Participants at The Second Latin American Exchange of Fishermen and Fisherwomen Against the Exploitation of the Sea. Photographs: Valda Noguiera

Brazil’s Quilombos Are Fighting to Save Their Waters From Pollution

The descendants of escaped slaves are claiming their stake against big corporations

Bold as her red lip, Eliete Paraguassu glides in wearing a coordinating set as she directs us to a pier on a picturesque beach in São Tomé de Paripe, Bahia where we embark on a cruise of a different kind to All Saints Bay.

Awaiting her is a group of artisanal fisherpeople from the waters of Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil. They’ve convened to dialogue, organize, and strategize with her and the quilombos of Ilha de Maré. Their communities share a reverence for water that extends beyond the comprehension of the masses. Water is equal parts life source, income generator, and culture. Accompanied by academics, activists, and creatives alike, The Second Latin American Exchange of Fishermen and Fisherwomen Against the Exploitation of the Sea commences.

Paraguassu guides participants to a quaint boat initiating our journey through the history of Ilha de Maré. As communities formed by fugitive slaves in the Americas during the colonial era, quilombos’ glorified histories often overshadow their present-day experiences. Their almost nonexistent media representation reduces them to antiquated relics of Brazil’s past. Today, through grassroots organizing residents are telling their own modern stories.

Eliete Paraguassu began advocating for her community throughout the country between 2000–2002. Since then she’s represented Ilha de Maré at seminars, public hearings, and city council meetings.

The island is made up of 11 communities, 5 of which received quilombo designation from The Palmares Cultural Foundation: Bananeiras, Martelo, Ponta Grossa, Porto dos Cavalos, and Praia Grande. These quilombos formed when plantations plundered the island and slave ships regularly trudged through All Saints Bay. Slaves on passing ships jumped overboard and swam to freedom on Ilha de Maré’s shores. Other slaves escaped plantations in the island’s center and the Recôncavo Baiano region. In hidden meeting points called “patience,” escaped slaves assembled to strategize, resist, and build community — later becoming quilombos. Ilha de Maré’s communities have several configurations, but escaping via the waters, forests, and mangroves…