The last member of an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon dies, after 26 years in solitude

In the hyperconnected world in which we live, it seems impossible to us that there are still uncontacted tribes that live just like their ancestors 500 years ago. This is the sad story of the Man in the Hole.

No one knows his name, or the language he spoke, or what tribe he belonged to, because no one has ever spoken to him. But he became a symbol of the indigenous massacre by the economic greed of the strongest. The last of his tribe, that was found dead on August 23, covered in macaw feathers.

The Hole Mannamed for the three-meter-deep holes he used to hunt or hide, belongs to an uncontacted tribe that lived in the Tanaru Indigenous Territory, in the Amazon jungle of Rondonia, Brazil.

according to account the bbc, most of his tribe was massacred in the 70’s by ranchers who wanted to keep their land. Only 6 members of the tribe survived. In 1995, another attack by illegal miners killed all but one, the Man in the Hole.

For 26 years, the last member of this unknown tribe lived alone in the Amazon jungle. Since 1996 he has been watched by FUNAIthe federal agency for indigenous affairs in Brazil, but always without contacting him.

In 2018, the FUNAI supervisor on his trail managed to record this videothe only images we have of him alive, since he was very elusive and hid when he noticed that the supervisor was nearby:

By studying the trail that it was leaving in its settlements, FUNAI has been able to deduce that he planted corn and cassava and collected honeyas well as fruits such as papaya and banana.

throughout these 26 years alone Almost 50 cabins built by him have been found, all of them with a hole 3 meters deep. Its usefulness is not known. It is speculated that he used them to hide, or for some ritual.

This is one of the cabins he built:

Last August 23, The Man in the Hole was found dead by members of FUNAI. There were no signs of violence or incursions by other people. They calculate that I was about 60 years old.

The last of his tribe was lying in a hammock, and he had macaw feathers all over his body. It is believed that he put them on himself because he sensed he was going to die. He lay down in the hammock and waited for death, which also meant the end of his tribe, about which we will never know anything.

It is the eternal story of the greed of manwilling to kill to take from the weakest what is his, and make a profit.