The Man of the Hole” - the last surviving member of an Amazon tribe - has died, human rights organisation Survival International said Sunday.
The man was the only inhabitant of Tanaru Indigenous Territory in Brazil's Rondonia state. The London-based human rights body, which runs the global movement for tribal peoples, said the rest of the tribe was killed in the 1970s.
The Man of the Hole
The man was named after his habit of constructing deep holes as traps, some with sharpened stakes in them, the human rights body said. He lived alone in a small area of forest, bordered by soy farms and cattle ranches.
“He endured appalling violence in which everyone close to him was killed. He lived entirely alone for many years, resisting all attempts at contact. Now he's dead, and his people's genocide is complete,” Survival International said.
FUNAI, the Brazilian government agency for tribal peoples, filmed the man in 2018. The documents maintain he always insisted on being left alone and did not wish to make contact with the outside world.
{{/usCountry}}FUNAI, the Brazilian government agency for tribal peoples, filmed the man in 2018. The documents maintain he always insisted on being left alone and did not wish to make contact with the outside world.
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Very little was known about the tribe because they refused contact with outsiders.
Around 1990, FUNAI discovered his presence after discovering evidence of demolished houses—the kind of cottages the man constructs. He was able to live due to FUNAI's efforts to legally defend his territory despite a targeted attack by gunmen in 2009.