(CMR) A member of an uncontacted Brazilian indigenous tribe who lived in isolation for 26 years after cattle ranchers killed the rest of his tribe was found dead in the Brazilian rainforest last week.
The man, known as the “Man of the Hole,” lived on his own in the Amazon, hunting in a loincloth and living in a hut. He was given his nickname for his habit of constructing deep holes to trap animals and to hide in, the non-profit organization Survival International said.
He shunned all contact and even fired an arrow at an official who approached. His body was found lying in a hammock, and officials say his death was natural.
The man had resisted all attempts to be contacted, though authorities continued to monitor him from afar, occasionally leaving out supplies for him. Whenever people tried to make contact with him after he was first discovered in 1996, he usually fled despite their gifts of seeds or tools.
Whenever officials approached him, he fled into his thatched hut and refused to utter a word, and once fired an arrow at a Funai official, puncturing his lung. After the near-fatal incident, officials decided he would be better off living out his days alone in the forest.
“No outsider knew this man's name, or even very much about his tribe — and with his death, the genocide of his people is complete,” said Fiona Watson, Survival International's research and advocacy director.
“For this was indeed a genocide — the deliberate wiping out of an entire people by cattle ranchers hungry for land and wealth,” she added.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
