The first – and probably last – peaceful encounter with the Sentinelese people.
Sentinelese tribe members on North Sentinel Island in the Andaman archipelago vehemently reject any contact from outsiders. Photo taken in 1974. Image credit: Raghubir Singh/Nat Geo Image Collection
North Sentinel Island is a remote and isolated island located in the Bay of Bengal, part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. The island is home to the Sentinelese, an indigenous tribe that has lived in complete isolation for thousands of years and has vigorously resisted all attempts of contact by outsiders.
In recent years, the Indian government has taken steps to protect the tribe’s way of life and maintain their isolation, recognizing the importance of preserving their unique culture and heritage. However, in late 2018, the tribe made headlines when they killed an American missionary, John Allen Chau, who had tried to make contact with them.
Image created: NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen
The Sentinelese are known to be hostile to outsiders, and have shown no interest in making contact with the outside world. In 1974, the director of a National Geographic documentary about the Andamans was hit by a spear thrown at him while he was filming the Sentinelese from a boat. That time, the filming crew did not manage to make peaceful contact with the tribe.
But that probably wasn’t such a bad outcome, after all. The Sentinelese are vulnerable to diseases and infections that are common in the outside world, and contact with outsiders could have serious consequences for their health and survival.
The tribe’s warriors, brandishing bows and arrows on the island’s shores, demonstrate their defiance of the outside world, 1974. Image credit: Raghubir Singh/Nat Geo Image Collection
Here’s footage of the unsuccessful 1974 expedition, and the hostile reception.
Given these challenges, any attempts at contact with the Sentinelese must be approached with caution and sensitivity. The Indian government has implemented strict regulations to prevent unauthorized contact with the tribe, and has warned against any attempts to approach the island or make contact with the tribe.
But before the ban came into effect, in 1991 the first-ever recorded contact was made with the islanders by a team of Indian anthropologists and government officials. Madhumala Chattopadhyay – an Indian anthropologist who later became famous for her work with the Indigenous peoples of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands – and her colleagues approached the island on a smaller vessel and started making contact with the Sentinelese by tossing coconuts into the water as gifts. A group of armed tribesmen then entered the water to retrieve the coconuts, and this process was repeated until the team ran out of coconuts and had to return to their main ship to resupply.
Here’s footage of the first encounter.
On their second attempt, a young man aimed his bow at Chattopadhyay, but a Sentinelese woman made him drop it. Chattopadhyay was able to escape the attack, and the team retreated.
When the team returned for a third time, Chattopadhyay and his colleagues jumped into the water near the boat and personally gave the islanders coconuts. A crew member captured this act in photographs that were widely distributed in the media. According to writer Vishvajit Pandya, the images caused the public to reconsider their perception of the Sentinelese.
Team members hand over coconuts to islanders. Image credit: T.N. Pandit (left)
On February 21 of that year, a bigger group returned and made another successful contact with the islanders. Some tribesmen spotted their approach and proceeded towards the team unarmed to meet them. A group of Sentinelese boarded the visitors’ boat and accepted coconuts.
Reflecting on her work with the Sentinelese, Chattopadhyay said, “You feel that you are there to study, but actually, they are the ones who study you. You are foreign in their lands.”
The Indian government later prohibited further expeditions, expressing concern that the tribe might contract illnesses as a result of regular contact with outsiders.
In an interview with National Geographic decades later, Chattopadhyay also discouraged further attempts to contact the Sentinelese. She said, “The tribes have been living on the islands for centuries without any problem. Their troubles started after they came into contact with outsiders…The tribes of the islands do not need outsiders to protect them, what they need is to be left alone.”
The two visits made by Chattopadhyay to North Sentinel Island in 1991, whereby coconuts were given to the island’s residents, are regarded as the only friendly encounters between the Sentinelese and the outside world. Image credit: Madhumala Chattopadhyay (pictured in the middle)
Chattopadhyay also argued that under British rule, the residents of Andaman Islands had endured immense hardship, and that it would be inappropriate for Indians to repeat the same error by attempting to assimilate the Sentinelese into mainstream society.
All in all, the first contact with the tribe on North Sentinel Island is a complex and delicate issue, and everything must be done so that it’s not repeated and the tribe’s unique culture and way of life continues to be protected. Again, the Sentinelese show no interest in making contact with the outside world, and we have to respect their decision.
