A video clip of the lone survivor of an uncontacted indigenous Amazonian group has been released by the Brazilian government.
The partially-naked man “was filmed as he chopped down a tree in the Brazilian rainforest”, reports The Independent. “He appeared to be wearing a loincloth and has very long hair tied back.”
Thought to be in his mid-50s, the man is believed to be the only survivor of a group of six killed during an attack in 1995.
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Many indigenous populations in the various forests making up the Amazon “have been murdered and kicked out by farmers and loggers”, says Sky News.
The man has been monitored remotely by the Brazilian government agency Funai - dedicated to protecting the interests and culture of the country's indigenous population - since 1996, but no contact has ever been made with him.
Altair Algayer, from Funai, told The Guardian: “I understand his decision. It is his sign of resistance, and a little repudiation, hate, knowing the story he went through.
“He is very well, hunting, maintaining some plantations of papaya, corn. He has good health and a good physical shape doing all those exercises.”
Known locally as the “indigenous man in the hole”, until now the only publicised glimpse of him was in a Brazilian documentary called Corumbiara in 1998.
He is known “to hunt forest pigs, birds and monkeys with a bow and arrow, and also sets traps for his prey using hidden holes full of sharpened wood”, says Sky News.
Fiona Watson, the research and advocacy director of Survival International, a non-profit group that works to protect indigenous peoples, described the footage as “extraordinary” given that the protected forest the man lives in is completely surrounded by ranches and farms.
“Funai has a duty to show that he is well and alive,” she said. “The crucial thing is Funai has managed to keep his territory.
“The fact he is still alive gives you hope. He is the ultimate symbol, if you like.”
Funai specialists believe there are 113 uncontacted tribes living in the Brazilian Amazon - of which 27 groups have been confirmed - and one tribe living outside.
Their presence is becoming increasingly evident as more of the rainforest is destroyed.
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