Man of the Hole

Man of the Hole
The Man of the Hole in 2018
Bornc. 1960s
Diedc. July 2022 (aged c. 60)
Tanaru Indigenous Territory, Rondônia, Brazil
Known forLast member of an uncontacted people of Brazil

The Man of the Hole[note 1] (c. 1960s – c. July 2022),[1][2] or the Tanaru Indian,[note 2][3] was an Indigenous person who lived alone in the Amazon rainforest in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. He was the sole inhabitant of the Tanaru Indigenous Territory,[note 3] a protected Indigenous territory demarcated by the Brazilian government in 2007.

It is not known what language the Man of the Hole spoke, what his people called themselves, or what his name was. He was the last surviving member of his people following their genocide by Brazilian settlers in the 1970s–1990s and chose to remain isolated until his death in 2022. Living primarily by hunting and gathering and moving frequently, he left behind a deep hole of unknown purpose in each of his former homes, giving rise to his nickname. After surviving a further attack by armed ranchers in 2009, he was found dead in his home in August 2022.


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Buschschlüter, Vanessa (29 August 2022). "Last member of indigenous tribe dies in Brazil after resisting contact for decades". BBC News. Archived from the original on 29 August 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference apublica was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Nota de pesar – Índio Tanaru" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Fundação Nacional do Índio. 27 August 2022. Archived from the original on 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Excelentíssimo(a) Senhor(a) Doutor(a) Juiz(íza) Federal da Vara Federal da Subseção Judiciária de Vilhena/RO" (PDF). mpf.mp.br (in Portuguese). p. 4. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Dicionário da língua Kwazá" (PDF). etnolinguistica.wdfiles.com (in Portuguese). 2013. p. 147. Retrieved 4 October 2023.