True Life Tuesday: The Sentinelese People

It is difficult to believe that there are still groups of people on the planet who have been relatively untouched by outsiders. Who live a life free of the comforts of modern life and technologies. This is the case of the Sentinelese people.

The Sentinelese are an indigenous group who live on North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean. They are designated as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group. In 1956 the Indian government declared the island a tribal reserve. Travel within 3 nautical miles of the island was outlawed. The estimates of the population range from 15-500 but most believe is is somewhere from 50-200. 

In 2014 researchers navigated the island and noted that the Sentinelese were between 5'3"-5'5" tall with "dark, shining black skin". They were dressed in bark strips with some necklaces and headbands but they were mostly naked. They live in huts on four poles with slanted roofs covered in leaves. The Sentinelese are hunter-gatherers and also use canoes to fish in the waters off the island. The first know reports of people on the island was in 1771 by a survey crew from the East India Company. The crew reported seeing lights but did not step foot on the island.

The Sentinelese are known to be very hostile to outsiders. In October 1867 the merchant ship Nineveh crashed on a reef near the island during a monsoon. On the 3rd day the crew was assaulted by a group of people with arrows. They managed to repel their attackers and they were not seen again before the crew was rescued.

In 1896 a convict escaped from a penal colony on a nearby island. He was found on the island with several arrow piercings and a slit throat.

In 1974 a National Geographic film crew went to the island to film a documentary, Man In Search of Man. They tried to leave gifts for the tribe but were shot at with arrows. The director ended up being struck in the thigh.

In 2006 two fisherman who were illegally harvesting crabs drifted onto the island. They were found dead on the island.

The most recent incident was in November 2018. An American missionary was also killed by the tribe. A mission to retrieve his body failed.

It seems that people a determined to infiltrate this tribe. This could be disastrous. Due to their isolation the Sentinelese would have no immunity to the diseases and germs outsiders would bring to the island. We need to remember the history of colonization across history and leave these people in peace.