Zezico Guajajara, a teacher and activist in the northeastern state of Maranhao, was gunned down Tuesday in circumstances that are still being investigated.
He was a member of a group called the Guardians that has fought to defend the world's largest rainforest from illegal logging.
Another of the group's leaders, Paulo Paulino Guajajara, was murdered in the same region five months ago.
In all, at least five members of the Guajajara ethnic group have been murdered since November, according to activists.
"The Guardians have been mercilessly targeted by powerful logging mafias illegally exploiting the valuable hardwoods in the Arariboia indigenous territory, home to both the Guajajara indigenous people and uncontacted members of the Awa tribe," indigenous rights group Survival International said in a statement.
It criticized far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for his moves to open up protected indigenous lands to commercial activities, saying this had "emboldened" loggers, ranchers and miners seeking to encroach on the Amazon.
In a joint statement, environmental group Greenpeace and three local rights organizations said the Guajajara were a "tragic example of the vulnerability of many indigenous communities" in Brazil, "even those whose lands are officially protected."
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