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.
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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.
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.”
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