Latest news with #NorthSentinelIsland
The Sun
10-08-2025
- The Sun
Isolated island where visitors banned for 70 years & trespassers are killed with arrows is the world's last time capsule
A REMOTE island in the Indian Ocean that has been off limits to visitors for 70 years is one of the world's last remaining time capsules. The tribe who inhabit the tiny island have been living in voluntary isolation for 60,000 years, and are completely unexposed to modern life. 5 5 5 Back in 1956, the Indian government prohibited contact with the residents of North Sentinel Island, in the Bay of Bengal, and the law is still in place today. The prohibition exists to prevent the islanders coming in to contact with mainland diseases, as they will likely have no immunity to them due to lack of exposure. It was also implemented to preserve their cultural heritage, and to prevent the tribe from being exploited for tourism or research extraction. Thanks to the law, the Sentinelese are also protected from poaching and human trafficking, with strict penalties in place for violations. Unwanted visitors There is a five mile exclusion zone surrounding the island, and members of the tribe who have defended the island have not been prosecuted by the government. The tribe have been known to kill unwanted visitors with arrows, and back in April, Youtuber Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, was arrested after visiting the island and giving the Sentinelese people a can of coke. Following the trip, the influencer, who previously visited Afghanistan and posed with Taliban weapons, described himself as a "thrill seeker". But he's not the only one to visit the tribe, in 2018, Christian missionary John Allen Chau, 26, visited the island in an attempt to convert the tribe to Christianity. John had planned to live with the Sentinelese and teach them the bible, but he was immediately shot with a bow and arrow on arrival. And in 2006, two Indian fisherman were killed by the tribe after their boat accidentally drifted on to the shore. Brit danger tourist brands tribe pest an 'amateur' & reveals bizarre peace offering he SHOULD have made instead of Coke The families of the dead have been unable to bury their bodies, as it is too dangerous to visit the island. North Sentinel Island is roughly 60 square kilometres in size, and is covered in untouched tropical rainforest. There are no signs of farmland or large settlements on the island, which has no roads, cars, or infrastructure. Understanding the tribe Indian anthropologist Triloknath Pandit dedicated years trying to understand the tribe by cautiously approaching them and offering them gifts such as coconuts and metal tools. Sometimes they would take the offerings, after the anthropologist and his team had left, but on other occasions, they would fire arrows at the outsiders. ALL ALONE Who are the Sentinelese? THE Sentinelese tribe are an indigenous tribe who have thrived on North Sentinal Island, one of the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean, for up to 55,000 years. They have zero contact with the outside world and are actively hostile to anyone who approaches their land. The small forested island of North Sentinel, which is a similar size to Manhattan, is even off limits to the Indian navy in a bid to protect the tribe of about 150 from being wiped out by disease. The tribe got international attention after the 2004 tsunami, when a member of the tribe was pictured on a beach, firing arrows at a helicopter inspecting their welfare. In 2006, two Indian fishermen, who had moored their boat near the island to sleep after fishing near there, were killed when their boat broke loose and drifted onto the shore. Campaigns by non-profit and local organisations have led the Indian government to abandon plans to contact the Sentinelese. Survival International, an organisation that campaigns for the rights of tribal people, works to ensure that no further attempts are made to contact the tribe. Then in 1991, a group of Sentinelese walked out of the jungle unarmed and accepted the gifts straight from the visitors. However, the moment was short-lived. 'When I was giving away the coconuts, I got a bit separated from the rest of my team and started going close to the shore", Pandit told the BBC. "One young Sentinel boy made a funny face, took his knife and signalled to me that he would cut off my head. "I immediately called for the boat and made a quick retreat. The gesture of the boy is significant. He made it clear I was not welcome.' 5
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Fears isolated tribe could be wiped out by Indian efforts to carry out census... or KILL anyone trying to count how many villagers dwell on their island
A remote island tribe known for killing outsiders on sight could be at risk of being wiped out as India prepares to carry out its first national census in over a decade. The Sentinelese people of North Sentinel Island, considered the most isolated tribe on Earth, have long resisted contact with the outside world. But now officials are facing the dilemma of counting those who reside on the island without sparking violence or exposing the tribe to diseases they have no immunity to. Experts have warned that even attempting to tally the population of the world's most reclusive tribe could end in bloodshed or spark a humanitarian catastrophe. In 2006, two Indian fishermen paid with their lives after their boat accidentally drifted too close to the island which is protected by India. According to witnesses on a nearby fishing boat, the two men were brutally hacked to death with axes. A few days after the killings, their bodies were reportedly hooked up on bamboo sticks like 'a kind of scarecrow', according to an Indian police chief who shared details of the incident. And after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the tribe made international headlines when one lone warrior fired an arrow at a military helicopter conducting a welfare check. Now, with the next census due in 2027, enumerators in India face the difficult - and potentially life-threatening - task of attempting to count those who do not want to be found. After the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the tribe made international headlines when one lone warrior fired an arrow at a military helicopter conducting a welfare check The job becomes even more fraught in light of India's 2014 decision to leave the Sentinelese entirely undisturbed, formally recognising their right to live in isolation. To safeguard their isolation and protect them from contracting potential diseases from outsiders to which they have no immunity, the Indian government has imposed strict prohibitions on approaching the island. Delhi has declared the island and its surrounding waters an exclusion zone enforced by Navy patrols, to which unauthorised entry is illegal and contact with the tribe is forbidden. Violating these restrictions can have deadly consequences, as the Sentinelese are legally permitted to defend their territory - even to the point of killing trespassers. Now, India are considering the use of drones or satellite imagery to attempt to count the population from afar. But even this raises ethical alarms. 'There have been talks of using certain technology to map their population but it is not clear if this will give an accurate estimate or whether it is even ethical to conduct such an exercise,' said Dr M Sasikumar, joint director of the Anthropological Society of India. Survival International's Jonathan Mazower added: 'Any contact with such peoples, who lack immunity to common outside diseases, could well be deadly for them'. The Sentinelese aren't the only tribe in the crosshairs. On Great Nicobar Island, the elusive Shompen people - a semi-nomadic tribe believed to number just over 200 - also pose a census conundrum. Delhi has declared the island and its surrounding waters an exclusion zone enforced by Navy patrols, to which unauthorised entry is illegal and contact with the tribe is forbidden Deep in dense jungle, far from the reach of modern life, they too risk being swept into the government's data drive. Plans to develop the island with a vast airport and port sparked outrage earlier this year, with dozens of genocide experts branding the project a 'death sentence' for the Shompen in an open letter to India's president. In 2011, officials managed only a partial count of the Shompen, and the Sentinelese were never tallied at all, with officials relying on glimpses from a safe distance at sea to guess at their numbers. At the time, they estimated just 15 people - 12 men and three women. Contact with the tribe has proven fatal. In 2018, American missionary John Allen Chau was killed after a brazen attempt to convert the Sentinelese to Christianity. On his third secretive approach to the island - after offering gifts and speaking in what he believed was a friendly tone - the tribe turned to violence. The fisherman who had been aiding the Christian missionary said that they had watched in horror from a distance as the tribesmen dragged his body away with a rope around his neck. His body was later buried by islanders. It has never been recovered. Even this year, another American adventure had to be arrested after making an illegal nine-hour voyage to a restricted reserve on North Sentinel Island and leaving behind a can of Coke as an 'offering' for the world's most isolated tribe to try. Experts branded Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov's attempted visit as 'deeply disturbing', and warned that not only did he put himself in danger, but also put the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk of being wiped out were they to contract a common disease, such as measles or influenza. The 24-year-old was seized by police when he returned to land - but this outcome may have been far kinder than the deadly consequences he could have faced had he had fallen into the hands of the dangerous tribe.
