Last survivor of indigenous tribe in Brazil dies

By Bala Chambers

LONDON (AA) - Authorities in Brazil have confirmed the death of the last member of an uncontacted Indigenous tribe in the Brazilian Amazon.

Brazil's National Indian Foundation (Funai) announced "with immense regret, the death of the Indigenous (man) known as 'Tanaru Indian’" in a press release published Saturday.

"The Indigenous man was the only survivor of his community, of (an) unknown ethnicity," it said.

The governmental organization overseeing policies for Indigenous peoples and responsible for protecting lands belonging to different communities said it "deeply regrets the loss of the Indigenous person," who is believed to have died from natural causes.

Federal police are set to confirm details following the medical report.

"The Indigenous man's body was found inside his hammock in his hut located in the Tanaru Indigenous Land, on August 23, during the monitoring and territorial surveillance round" carried out by authorities, according to the press release.

There were no visible signs of other people around the site or in the woods.

The utensils and objects used by the man appeared to be in order as officials undertook an examination of the area involving federal police, specialists the National Institute of Criminalistics of Brasilia, criminal experts from the city of Vilhena in Rondonia state and Funai employees.

Drones and a 3D scanner were used, in addition to collecting various traces of the Indigenous person's body, which will be analyzed, according to the press release.

The unnamed individual is believed to be around 60 years old and had lived in voluntary isolation in Rondonia, close to Bolivia, for some 26 years.

Due to his isolation, his language and ethnicity are not known

However, he became known as the Man of the Hole, as he dug holes in the area — some believe for capturing wild animals and others as a refuge to hide out.

The man was the last of an Indigenous peoples inhabiting the Tanaru indigenous lands.

During the 1970s, it is believed that ranchers seeking to seize more land in the area killed many members of his community.

By the mid-1990s, most of the last remaining members of the community were killed by illegal miners.

When Funai later became aware of the man’s survival, it monitored him for his own wellbeing.

Around four years ago, officials from Funai came across him and filmed him, with images showing him hitting into a tree with an instrument.

Since then, however, officials had not seen him again but encountered evidence of what were believed to be his huts and holes.

Brazil's constitution permits Indigenous peoples rights to their ancestral lands, but from 1998, access to the Tanaru Indigenous Land has been limited.

Following the man's death, rights groups have been pushing for the reserve to gain full protection amid the threat from ranchers, illegal miners and loggers.