Curukango

The Curukango quilombo was located northeast of Macaé, in the Northern region of the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, close to the Deitado River’s headwaters. He was led by a captive also named Curukango, of “Mozambican” origin, who was said to have killed his master, headed to the woods and formed a mocambo with about other two hundred Black people. During a military expedition against the quilombo, Curukango was shot to death and the other quilombolas were “beheaded and their heads stuck in stakes on the side of the general road.” To this day, the place where this community was located is known as Carukango or Querucango. Today it is an environmental protection area. Among memories and archaeological records, traces of the quilombola occupation can still be found.