Rare video shows last surviving member of Amazonian tribe

The video shows a man trying to cut down a tree with an axe in Tanaru, an indigenous territory surrounded by private farms and deforested clearings in the Brazilian state of Rondonia.

In a rare video that was released by a government agency in Brazil, a footage is seen of a lone survivor of an Amazonian tribe who has been living alone for the last 22 years, according to an ABC News report. The video, which has been taken from a distance, shows a man trying to cut down a tree with an axe in Tanaru, an indigenous territory surrounded by private farms and deforested clearings in the Brazilian state of Rondonia.

The man appears to be nearly naked. A closer shot of his face shows him wearing a moustache, apparently, though a third of it gets covered behind some leaves.

The man is in his 50s but not much else is known about him, the BBC reported. In Brazil, he has been dubbed "the hole Indian" or the "Indian of the hole" because he usually leaves behind large holes or ditches, possibly to trap animals.

Rare video captures what is believed to be the last known survivor of an indigenous Amazon tribe whose fellow tribe members were reportedly murdered 22 years ago. The video is intended as evidence of his survival in effort to preserve the land he lives on. https://t.co/3WlmG0k16f pic.twitter.com/HOVeQb5lRU — ABC News (@ABC) July 21, 2018

According to Fundacao Nacional do Indio (FUNAI), a Brazilian government agency that protects the interests and culture of natives to the country, the Guapore Ethno-Environmental Protection Front has been monitoring the man and helping to ensure that he is protected from all external threats. However, there has never been any communication of the team with the man.

In the 1980s, the establishment of farms and illegal logging in Rondonia led to repeated attacks on the indigenous people living in the area, as said by FUNAI.

FUNAI added that the man in the video is thought to be the only survivor after farmers attacked a group of six in 1995. The agency has been monitoring the man since 1996, but attempts to contact him, the last of which was made in 2005, were not successful, the agency said. The man has made it clear that he does not want to be contacted, the BBC reported, adding that the agency has a policy of avoiding contact with isolated groups.

The video was shot to prove that the sole survivor is alive so that the restriction order can be renewed, according to a BBC report.

In 2012, FUNAI registered crops of maize, potatoes, bananas and papayas planted by indigenous people, who live off the food and animals they hunt.

The man's existence proves that, even when alone in the middle of the Amazon, it's possible to survive and resist allying with society, said FUNAI.