An indigenous people, hiding from civilization for the past 26 years, has died in the Amazon rainforest. His body was found last week in a hammock outside a thatched hut. Earning the nickname “the loneliest man in the world,” the Indian was rarely seen alive. A unique footage from 2011 appears to show him chopping down a tree.
A unique video from 2011 shows natives of the Amazon rainforest chopping firewood. | | Video: Associated Press
The last survivor of an indigenous tribe from the Tanal region of Rondonia, Brazil, is believed to have died of natural causes at an estimated age of 60. On August 23, his body, with no trace of violence, was found by employees of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI). In front, he covered his body with the colorful feathers of an ara parrot.
Most of his indigenous people were slaughtered by ranchers who were expanding their territory in the 1970s. The last of his six members then died in an attack by illegal miners in 1995. In this way the man remained the sole survivor, and from then on lived in complete solitude in the forest. I did.
The man belonged to the “hole tribe”
It is unknown what language he spoke or what ethnic group he belonged to, as he avoided all contact with civilization. However, his native group was called the “hole tribe”. Together with other members, he dug holes in the jungle to hunt prey or hide. According to Foundation employee Altair José Algayer, the three-meter hole could have religious significance for a recluse.
Since 1996, the Foundation has monitored the safety of men in the Rondonia region of northwestern Brazil. He was last seen alive in 2018.
In the 1980s, the disorderly colonization of Amazonia claimed the lives of many indigenous peoples. In Brazil, according to the National Foundation for Indians, about 70 isolated Indian tribes live in the Amazon states of Acre, Amazonas, Mato he Grosso, Roraima, Rondonia and Maranhao. However, not all of these strains have been discovered yet.
