The inhabitants ofNorth Sentinel Islandmay be the last " uncontacted " mass on Earth — and they ’d like to keep it that way .
For centuries , the island ’s reclusive , Indigenous people ( know as the Sentinelese ) have rejected most attempt by the outside world to pass through their petite tropical home in the Bay of Bengal . In fact , anthropologist have no idea how many Sentinelese people live on the secluded island ; appraisal change between 50 and 500 .
What Little We Do Know About the Secluded Island
The few glance of living on isolated North Sentinel Island paint an intriguing picture of an untouched society of hunting watch - gatherers .
The islanders live in basic structure , spearfish from dugout canoes and wear no wearable at all . What ’s amazing is that this almost Neolithic fellowship subsist less than 20 miles ( 32 kilometers ) from neighboring islands where Indigenous cultures have mix in with the forward-looking world , not always with happy solvent .
" [ These tribes ] have been exist on the islands for 100 without any trouble . Their troubles go after they come into contact with foreigner , " articulate Madhumala Chattopadhyay , an Amerindic anthropologist , in aninterviewfor National Geographic Magazine . She was the first woman to chitchat the separated kinship group in the 1990s but has vowed never to go back . " The tribes of the islands do not need outsiders to protect them , what they need is to be leave alone . "
Case in point : In 2018 , North Sentinel Island made the news when a young American missional namedJohn Allen Chauwas killed on the island after repeatedly cut the Sentinelese ’s warnings to stay off .
Chau was only the latest in a long assembly line of unwished outsiders ( two Amerind fishermen , merchants , escaped convicts , fisherman and filmmakers ) whose intrusions onto the island were met with an wild volley of arrows .
History of North Sentinel Island
North Sentinel is part of a much larger island chain call in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands , currently an Amerind union territory . There are 184 island in this tropical archipelago located in the Bay of Bengal about 300 miles ( 500 kilometers ) off the coast of Myanmar ( Burma ) and 700 miles ( 1,200 kilometers ) from India .
Only about 30 of the islands in the chain are inhabit and are home to autochthonic people like the Onge and the Jarawa , who speak different dialects than the Sentinelese language .
In the 18th century , the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were first research by Dutch , Austrian and British merchandiser ships looking for the best craft routes to the spicery - rich Asiatic subcontinent . In 1771,a ship with the British East India Companywas the first to spot signs of life on North Sentinel Island : cookery fire flickering in the Nox .
The first lasting European colonist arrived in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the 1850s when the British built a punishable colony on Great Andaman Island — about 30 miles ( 50 kilometer ) from North Sentinel Island — to house colonial prisoners from British - rule India .
In 1896 , a captive tried to run on a raft and washed up on the shore . A search company found him a few day later , dead from multiple arrows .
The prisoner ’s death confirmedprevious reportsfrom a shipwreck Indian merchandiser ship of " minuscule naked piece fire arrows " on North Sentinel Island . The island and its unwelcoming inhabitants stay unruffled for another half 100 .
Anthropologists Try to Make Contact
In 1967 , the Anthropological Survey of India sent a squad of 20 people ( let in police and Indian authorities ) to attempt to make peaceable contact with the Sentinelese , who were do it to fire pointer at any fishing vessel or naval ship that got too closelipped to its beach . But rather of being greet with the awaited ill will , the anthropologist land their sauceboat on an empty beach with no people in great deal .
In fact , during the anthropologists ' first trip to the small island , they saw no Sentinelese at all . According to TN Pandit , one of the loss leader of the anthropological expedition , the Sentinelese must have realize the outsider coming and gone into hiding .
Pandit and his squad keep up footprints into the jungle until they come to a glade with what he describe as 18 " nicely built " lean - to huts . Each home had a well - be given fervour in front of it , and hastily abandon meals of roasted fish and fruits . He estimated that 40 to 50 people lived in the Sentinelese village .
The anthropologist depart gifts for the Sentinelese — coconuts ( which do n’t grow on the island ) , iron rods and plastic utensils — but when they made further attempts at return visits in the seventies and 80s , their contact company was repelled each time .
The Closest Thing to Peaceful Contact
In the other nineties , the Anthropological Survey of Indiamade another attemptto establish contact with the Sentinelese . The outreach squad included the first female anthropologist to get together the effort .
Madhumala Chattopadhyay differentiate in the Indigenous tribe of South Andaman Island but had never been to North Sentinel . Both Chattopadhyay and her parent were required to sign waivers from Indian functionary acknowledging the risk of the expedition .
When the team make it , there were the usual armed men on the shoring , but instead of gesticulate angrily and fuel their weapons , the Sentinelese sedately walked toward the shoreline .
Floating Gifts
" We started floating coconuts over to them , " recalled Chattopadhyay in aNational Geographic article . " To our surprise some of the Sentinelese come into the pee to take in the coconut . "
Perhaps it was the mien of a adult female , but for some reason the Sentinelese let down their guard duty . Some of the tribesmen waded out to the boat and try it . They happily accepted all of the coconuts .
They even allowed some of the outsiders to take the air around the beach and interact with Sentinelese women , teenagers and children . But they were n’t allowed to embark the hobo camp or see the village .
Another Attempt at Friendly Contact
Encouraged by the fundamental interaction , the anthropologists bring back a few months later with a much heavy team . But the the office cursorily soured .
The Sentinelese were n’t satisfied with collecting float coconut , so they board the ship and took the whole bag . One Sentinelese serviceman even attempt to grab one of the police officer ’s rifle , mistake it for just another scrap of metal . The police force military officer forcefully took it back .
" The man got angry and whipped out his tongue , " say Chattopadhyay . " He gesture to us to lead immediately and we provide , " she say .
Death of an American Missionary on North Sentinel Island
Since 1996 , Amerindic law has made itillegalfor fisher , tourist , researchers or other civilians to go up or land on North Sentinel Island . In 2006 , two fishermen from Myanmar made an emergency landing on the island and were killed by the Sentinelese , their bodies eat up in the sand .
But that was n’t going to stop John Allen Chau , a 26 - class - old evangelical Christian missionary and adventure blogger who hired local fishermen to take him there in November 2018 . Chau was part of an international social movement of youthful adventurers who yearned to bring Christianity to the " unreached " corner of the ball .
Chau was a well - trained outdoorsman , according toan in - deepness profile in The Guardian , and he submitted to several round of vaccination to ensure that he did n’t bring any out-of-door disease to the Sentinelese .
Tragic Diary Entries
Chau chronicle his missional trip in a diary and come prepared to cover with any " contingencies " of contact with unfriendly residents , including dental forceps for remove arrow . When Chau first waded up to the Island , he brought a great fish as a giving .
" I squall ' my name is John , I love you and Jesus love you , ' " Chau wrote in his diary . The Sentinelese responded with pointer . Chau came back and dodged even more arrow , including one snap from a young son that pierced Chau ’s waterproof Bible , according toanother visibility in The New Yorker .
" If you want me to get actually pip , or even killed with an pointer then so be it , " wrote Chau in his diary that night . " I think I could be more useful alive though , but to you , God , I give all the resplendency of whatever happens . I DON’T WANT to die . "
Tragically , that ’s exactly what materialise . According to the fisherman who smuggled Chau to the island , they see the Sentinelese drag his body to the beach and entomb it . The Indian political science was ineffectual to recover Chau ’s remains .
