The Sentinelese tribe, the most isolated people in the world, have managed to avoid contact with the outside world for thousands of years.
North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal is home to the Sentinelese tribe, one of the most isolated communities in the world. With little contact with the outside world to date, this mysterious tribe still lives behind a veil of secrecy. Their homes are almost inaccessible to outsiders, surrounded by dense forests and dangerous coral reefs. This hunter-gatherer tribe makes a living by fishing and collecting crabs in handmade canoes. They are also known to be highly skilled with bows, arrows, spears and knives. The stories of the few who dared to visit confirm their ability. Here is the Sentinelese tribe and its interesting story…
The Sentinelese people are one of about 100 tribes that have never had contact with the outside world.
North Sentinel Island, where they live, is part of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is located to the west of the Andaman islands, and according to the Indian government’s latest census, between 80 and 150 Sentinelese are estimated to live there. But some estimates suggest that the number could be as high as 500 or as low as 15. In any case, the tribe has lived in voluntary isolation for thousands of years, closed to the outside world.
The first known contact with the Sentinelese people occurred in the mid-19th century when a British merchant ship ran aground
After a tense encounter lasting several days, the survivors were rescued by the British Royal Navy and the island was declared a colony of Britain. Maurice Vidal Portman, an officer of the Royal Navy, then set out to colonize the area. In 1880, he captured six Sentinelese – two adults and four children – and took them to the Andaman islands to study them. But the venture ended in tragedy; the adults fell ill and died. Although Portman took the children back to the island, the incident further increased the Sentinelese people’s distrust of the outside world.
In the years that followed, the Sentinelese people had little contact with the outside world
After the Indian government gained sovereignty over the islands after independence, the tribe was largely left to its own devices. In 2004, helicopters sent to the area after the massive Indian Ocean tsunami confirmed that the island was still inhabited and that the Sentinelese people remained healthy.
In 2018, American missionary John Chau traveled alone to the island to make contact with the Sentinelese people. But the tribal people did not trust other people, so the encounter ended in tragedy
Chau, 26, traveled alone to North Sentinel Island to introduce the tribe to Christianity. However, the tribe was known to be hostile to outsiders. After several failed attempts, Chau was shot dead with an arrow. His diaries and his story were later the subject of books and documentaries.
North Sentinel Island, a protected area by the Indian government
It is forbidden to come closer than five nautical miles (9.26 km) to this island. The government enforces strict rules to protect the Sentinelese people from the outside world and from diseases to which they are not immune. International law supports this isolation, for example the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which recognizes the right of indigenous peoples to maintain their culture and way of life undisturbed.
The Sentinelese people are related to other indigenous groups in the Andaman Islands, especially the Jarawa, Onge and Shompen tribes.
The Shompen tribe lives a similarly isolated life, but they are not as strictly isolated as the Sentinelese. Major development plans by the Indian government, such as the Greater Nicobar Project, pose serious threats to these isolated communities and jeopardize the future of these tribes.
