The Man of the Hole

July 23, 2007 8:49 PM

The Man of the Hole
posted by stbalbach (23 comments total)

Kind of funny how people were just wandering around his home as if they owned the place. In the first video, someone was resting their feet on some sort of long, bamboo-like thing. Not just resting their boots on it, but nudging it. No wonder the guy goes into the bushes and hides from those idiots.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:05 PM on July 23, 2007

[related]
posted by tellurian at 9:05 PM on July 23, 2007

Odd. I can't get through to the site.
psst! stbalbach - indigenous.
posted by peacay at 9:23 PM on July 23, 2007

I can't get through either. Is the site down?
posted by jonson at 9:27 PM on July 23, 2007

[cache]
posted by tellurian at 9:35 PM on July 23, 2007

Jesus, how sad.
posted by Abiezer at 9:38 PM on July 23, 2007

How long before he gets a metafilter account?
posted by exogenous at 9:39 PM on July 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Ooh, snap.
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 9:46 PM on July 23, 2007

That was pretty interesting, although I though I would've preferred a more extensive write-up over the abstract-ish copy and two videos. One of the first things that struck me was the A-frame shape of his house. I dunno, maybe I was expecting a yurt and not a thatch covered bungalow.

And thanks for the cache, tellurian. The page wasn't loading for me either...the second site we've broken tonight.
posted by slogger at 9:52 PM on July 23, 2007

Kind of funny how people were just wandering around his home as if they owned the place.

That was my reaction, too. I wouldn't want a bunch of Amazonian Indians to come swarming around my house, making all sorts of incomprehensible noises and chucking axes at my feet.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 10:06 PM on July 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

How can there be any justification for going to bother this guy?
The Brazilian government’s Indian affairs department wants to "check that he was still alive"? Ah, yes, well done.
And the researcher? "[...] the other part of me knew that he might benefit as a result of me telling his story to a wider audience. And that is why I went. The more people that know about him the less likely ranchers or invaders are to kill him."
The ranchers killed his entire people, and you think a non-article and a video on YouTube are going to convince them to spare him?

And in all this, not even half an attempt to explain those holes? (An open well smack in the middle of your own hut doesn't sound like a hiding place nor much of an animal trap to me.) Short sharp science, eh?
posted by progosk at 12:05 AM on July 24, 2007

Wow. This made me think of The Green Wall (imdb), an eerie Peruvian film that may have inspired The Mosquito Coast in part.

And yes, FUNAI seems as paternalistic as any of the indigenous people agencies, from the US's BIA to the Australian social controls on aborigines.
posted by dhartung at 1:01 AM on July 24, 2007

"The more people that know about him the less likely ranchers or invaders are to kill him."


Haha, sure, lady.
posted by limnrix at 1:08 AM on July 24, 2007

Kipling would be proud.
posted by maus at 2:32 AM on July 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

"I hope he finds a wife."

Gonna need a bigger hole.
posted by Eideteker at 4:04 AM on July 24, 2007

I bet an young female (or male? who could say?) anthropologist who doesn't mind living in a mud crater could make friends with this poor lonely guy.
posted by pracowity at 4:04 AM on July 24, 2007

Not sure he is seeing much benefit from the increased exposure. I guess he needs a deeper hole.
posted by bystander at 4:31 AM on July 24, 2007

Coming soon to the Discovery Channel: The Blair Man-in-the-Hole Project. (Partial, painstakingly restored soundtrack from a memory card recently recovered from a shattered and badly decayed videocamera located deep in the jungle...)

"Hey there! We're white guys with cameras. We know what's best for you. We can get you a spot on Larry King! Trust us..."

*thwip*

"Hey there! Trust me. I can get you a spot on..."

*thwip*

...

*Rustle* *Rustle* SMASH!!

[Scene goes abruptly black.]

"Chirrup... chirrup... chirrup..."
posted by Mike D at 6:04 AM on July 24, 2007

Well... I thought it was fascinating. Excellent post. Here's hoping people leave him alone.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 7:36 AM on July 24, 2007

Ishi!
posted by LarryC at 9:59 AM on July 24, 2007

Here's hoping people leave him alone. From the looks of these asshats wandering all over his property and digging through his home, I bet they make him a stop on a tour. Spend an hour or two observing spider monkeys in the wild, then try to find the recluse in the woods. Maybe Mcfarlane toys can make an action figure to sell at the gift shop. I wonder how the lady in the article would try to spin that to make herself feel better about being an asshole.
posted by andywolf at 10:02 AM on July 24, 2007

Comin' to ya on a dusty road
Good lovin', I got a truck load
And when you get it, you got something
So don't worry, 'cause I'm comin'

I'm a hole man
posted by kirkaracha at 10:15 AM on July 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

I hope the holes lead to a system of tunnels, escape routes to avoid people like the ones who murdered his tribe.
posted by misha at 11:14 AM on July 24, 2007 [1 favorite]