In the middle of the Andaman Sea, between the Indian and Southeast Asia subcontinents, at 11.5504° N, 92.2335° E, sits an island called North Sentinel, untouched by modernity — and virtually any outsider.
On that island reside a people so reclusive that basic facts elude outside knowledge, such as their number or the term that they use to describe themselves.
Satellite images and views from the sea shed some light, but they fundamentally remain an enigma.
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Among the many reasons we know next to nothing about the island’s Stone Age inhabitants is that they have a well-developed habit of neutralizing any perceived threat — which is literally almost anyone who has ever tried to make contact with them.
Via HowStuffWorks (emphasis added):
For centuries, the island's reclusive, Indigenous people (known as the Sentinelese) have rejected most attempts by the outside world to infiltrate their tiny tropical home in the Bay of Bengal. In fact, anthropologists have no idea how many Sentinelese people live on the secluded island; estimates vary between 50 and 500…
The few glimpses of life on isolated North Sentinel Island paint an intriguing picture of an untouched society of hunter-gatherers.
The islanders live in basic structures, spearfish from dugout canoes and wear no clothing at all. What's amazing is that this almost Neolithic society exists less than 20 miles (32 kilometers) from neighboring islands where Indigenous cultures have mixed with the modern world, not always with happy results.
Still, despite contact with the island under Indian administration being illegal for various reasons — including their penchant for manslaughter and the natives’ presumed lack of immunity to pathogens carried by citizens of the world — daring tourists attempt with some regularity and very little success to visit.
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The most recent was an American tourist in April, who apparently hoped to escape the common fate (death by arrow) by bearing gifts in the form of Diet Coke and a coconut.
The mission failed, and a minor international uproar ensued, with condemnations issued by the Indian government.
Via DW. April 2025 (emphasis added):
An American tourist was arrested for entering a restricted island with an isolated tribe carrying a can of Diet Coke and a coconut, Indian police said on Thursday.
The 24-year-old man entered North Sentinel Island, part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands off India's southeastern coast.
He wanted to meet the Sentinelese people, who are untouched by the modern world.
Numbering around 150, the Sentinelese shun all contact with the outside world and have been known to throw spears at anyone who comes close. Their language and culture remain a mystery to outsiders.
Before the latest brouhaha, John Allen Chau (RIP), a seemingly well-intentioned missionary, caused an international diplomatic affair when he arrived on the island in 2018 to introduce the natives to Christ.
Unfortunately, he paid for the mission with his life.
I’m of two minds on the issue of braving the slings and arrows to introduce the natives to Christianity:- On the one hand, venturing unarmed to a tropical island full of hostile inhabitants notorious for killing all outsiders in order to spread the faith is undoubtedly brave — noble, even.
- On the other hand, it’s also an act of hubris to believe you’re going to successfully convert them when they’ve demonstrated a naked antipathy to all outside influences — and, again, because of the not-insignificant possibility of transmitting some pathogen for which they have no immunity, potentially lethal hubris for all involved parties.
