Sentinelese - The inhabitants of north sentinel Island : Are they really hostile?



                                                  Satellite Image of North Sentinel Island

Sentinelese are indigenous people part of  aboriginal tribes living in Andaman islands.They inhabit the northern sentinel island in the Bay of Bengal. They are believed to be living on the island from the past 60,000 years with no contact with the outside world. 

Are they really hostile??

Not really,They give enough warnings to stay away from them and not to intrude into their places. They don't want to contact with other tribes and remain isolated. As many people say they are not hostile and allow outsiders only up to some area of the island.


According to 2011 census,their population was just 15 with 10 huts on the Island. They don't have immunity to even the commonest of the infections,so if they come in contact with outside people there are much chances that they may get easily infected by any of the deadly diseases and the tribe may get extinct in no time. It is better to leave them in isolation to fend for themselves,an interesting thing happened was that they were able to successfully survive the 2004 Tsunami which created havoc in various parts of Indian ocean countries. They could adapt to the Tsunami with their aboriginal skills. They are basically hunter-gatherers, likely using their bows and arrows to hunt terrestrial wild life and use rudimentary methods to catch sea food like mud crabs. Only men carry the bow and arrows and we don't find  any weapons with Females. Sentinelese are considered to be Negrito  and speak their own Sentinelese  language which is different from other languages of other tribes that inhabit Andaman Islands.

Sentinelese attacking a helicopter after Tsunami in 2004. 

Several expeditions were made by British to make contact with the Sentinelese tribe but their efforts ended in failure and the British didn't find any valuable resources  on the island to exploit. A friendly contact with the Sentinelese tribe was made by group of Anthropologists on 4th January 1991 ,wherein the people of the tribe accepted the coconuts offered by the Anthropologists as the coconuts are not found on the Island and the Sentinelese like them a lot. Later the Indian government abandoned any plans of making contact with the tribe as it safer for them to live in isolation.

 The Andaman and Nicobar (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956 provides protection to the Sentinelese and other native tribes in the region.The act prohibits people from traveling to the island and any approach closer than five nautical miles around the island. However,in 2018 ,the Indian government exclude the Northern Sentinel island from the restricted area permit system to boost tourism and clarified that the relaxation is intended only to allow researchers and anthropologists, with pre-approved clearance, to visit the Sentinel island.



                                     
                                         Sentinelese accepting coconuts from Anthropologists 


WHY THE SENTINELESE ARE IN NEWS???



   JOHN ALLEN CHAU with a fisherman before visiting the island.


An American Evangelist and travel enthusiast named John Allen Chau entered the island illegally  with the help of fisherman to preach Christianity to the Sentinelese people but reportedly killed by the Sentinelese people on November 16,2018 when he tried to interact with the Sentinelese. The police registered a murder case and arrested the fishermen and chau's friends who helped him to reach the island.The police is trying to retrieve the body of the American but their efforts proved to be futile as they witnessed the Sentinelese on the island shore with bows and arrows. The Sentinelese buried the body and after some days they exhumed it and stand it on a bamboo pole to warn the trespassers.
An exclusive report from the NDTV on the events after the death of the American.

 https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/cops-studying-rituals-of-tribe-that-killed-us-man-john-allen-chau-to-recover-his-body-1952922

A former noted Anthropologist expressed shock when he heard that the American was killed by the Sentinelese as they are not that hostile.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/surprised-the-sentinelese-killed-someone-first-anthropologist-to-enter-north-sentinel-island/articleshow/66787948.cms

 Source : Wikipedia,
             Google Images.

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