Survivor of Amazon tribe killings rejects mainstream society
A man who survived mass killings of tribes in the Amazon forest in the early nineties has surfaced for the first time in two decades.
Tribes in the Amazon region of Brazil went through a period of turmoil and genocide in the late 1980s and 1990s, with land grabbers, farmers, and loggers killing entire tribes.
One of the most noted attacks occurred in 1995 when a group of farmers targeted a small tribe of six. Remarkably, one of the tribesmen survived and was spotted in the Amazon in 1996. Now, the same man is believed to have resurfaced in the Rondônia state.
The footage was released by Funai, Brazil's indigenous agency in charge of protecting the last surviving Amazonian people. This is the first time that the man, who is known only as the "indigenous man in the hole", has been filmed so clearly.
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He appears to be in good health and reportedly survives by hunting pigs, monkeys, and birds. Officials from Funai have accepted that the man is consciously choosing not to incorporate himself into mainstream society: "I understand his decision. It is his sign of resistance."
It is incredible to witness men like this one and the few other recorded survivors continuing to make lives for themselves in the Amazon, despite outside efforts to destroy their natural habitat.
The only concern is whether outsiders, who are curious by nature and inclined to intervene even where they are not needed, will allow survivors to live in peace.