BRASILIA 30 Aug (Online): The last member of an uncontacted indigenous tribe in Brazil has passed away, reported the BBC on Tuesday.
Officials said that the man, who was called “Man of the Hole”, had been living alone for the past 26 years.
His name is unknown to officials. He used to dig deep holes which gave him his title.
He is believed to have died of natural causes as no evidence of violence was found on his body found on a hammock outside his straw hut.
“Man of the Hole” was the last person of an unknown indigenous group living in the Tanaru indigenous area.
It is believed that most members of his tribe members were killed in the 1970s by ranchers who wanted to expand their land.
Illegal miners killed the remaining six members in 1995, leaving him as the only survivor.
When Brazil’s Indigenous Affairs Agency (Funai) became aware of his survival, it started monitoring the area for his safety.
During patrols, the agency found that the man’s body was covered in bird feathers.
An indigenous expert said that the man must have covered himself with Macaw feathers on purpose knowing he was about to die. Experts estimated that he had died over 40 days before his body was found.
A post-mortem will reveal further details.
Nobody knows his name or the language he spoke or even his ethnic group.
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