19 Lesser Known Facts About Sentinel Island

Amidst the summit of such a century where technology is expanding at an unparalleled speed and people are brooding over the possibility of a nuclear war, it seems next to impossible to accept the fact that there exists a place where people survive in a paleolithic-age lifestyle, completely unaware of the changes occurring outside. What might seem wonderous to us, is the truth of Sentinelese Tribe, a tribe existing in the North Sentinel Island finding its shelter in the Bay of Bengal. They have not only refrained from any contact with the alien world, but they also stand as a shield for their island in case anyone approaches it. The thick forest shields like an umbrella that hinders the world from knowing or accumulating any piece of information about this tribe and its idiosyncrasies. The fun part is that no one even knows how many people actually call the island their home.

Keen to know more about such a finding? Read on to know more about this alienated tribe.


1. Changes in the Island

The North Sentinel Island measures up to roughly the same size as the New York’s Manhattan Island i.e. merely 59.6 km2. However, this changed when in 2004, a tsunami altered the island’s topography by elevating the island by one to two meters, resulting in an increase in its boundaries on the west and south sides by about one kilometer and furthermore, uniting the main island with an islet named “Constance”, located around 600 meters from the island’s coastline.

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2. The Tribe Less Known

The most amount of knowledge that has been gathered until now is by observing them from boats placed at a distance from the island. The islanders have been known to be hostile, however, there have been few brief instances where the Sentinelese were convinced enough to allow the authorities to get closer in exchange for some coconuts.

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3. Pretty Advanced

The lifestyle of the tribesmen is very unique. They still hunt and gather food in the forest. They also use coastal water as a means for sea-food. They make boats which, however, are very narrow and have been described as ‘too narrow to fit two feet in’. This is something that differs from the neighboring Jarawa tribe. The boats that they make are only fit for the shallow waters. They can be moved and given a direction with a pole or a log of wood.

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4. Their Kind of Homes

What has been observed is that the islanders live in three small groups. They also have two kinds of dwellings. The first is the large shared huts for a number of families that share several hearths. Then there is the second type which consists of more temporary shelters, without any sides and which can be seen alongside the beach. It is a small hut which has space for only one nuclear family.

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5. What Do They Wear

The women wear some sort of strings made out of fiber around their waist, neck, and head. The men, since they hunt and are responsible for protection, carry spears, bows, arrows and other primitive weapons. They wear the same kind of strings but with a thicker waist belt to support the weapons.

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6. Not that Stone Age-y

The Sentinelese have been described as the people from the ‘Stone Age’ in the media, which doesn’t really seem to be true.  There is no practical evidence to support the fact that they have been living in the exact same way from thousands of years that they have spent on the island. Their way of life is bounded to change and must have been adapted to different circumstances like most of us. For example, unlike their previous weapons, they now use metal to tip their arrows that have been washed up on the shore or that has been recovered from some shipwreck near the island.

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7. Strong and Healthy People

In contrast to the great Andamanese people who the British attempted to drag towards the path of ‘civilization’, the Sentinelese look like people who are extremely healthy and thriving. As observed from a distance, the islanders look strong, vigorous and healthy. The witnesses have alleged many children and pregnant women on the premises.

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8. No Exact Number

To try and get the exact number of people on this island is quite a task. Usually, the efforts that are made are done by standing in the boat and conducting a visual census from a distance. The varying results of the census had to be flawed. The only best way is to guess and thence, they have been estimated to be around 50-100 individuals.

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9. Maintaining a Strict Non-Interference Policy

Since 1996, the Indian government has embraced the policy of non-interference concerning the Sentinelese. Nonetheless, any previous endeavors to try and inspect the island had met with inadequate success. The tribe has known to establish its first peaceful contact with the outside environment for only 23 minutes. This encounter was performed by a team of 13-members led by anthropologist S.A. Awradhi. The interaction took place through gestures. “The contact was made after years of safe distance observations and sending gifts,” reported an official. Earlier attempts include a team of scientists supervised by anthropologist T. N. Pandit, who had stepped on the island in 1967 but could not secure any friendly contact.

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10. Are They Legally Protected?

Although the Sentinelese are recognized as the Scheduled Tribe by the Indian Government, in the matter of governance, they function autonomously. However, the island, along with other Andaman and Nicobar Islands was excluded from the gamut of the Restricted Area Permit which would permit the foreigners to access the island without any permission from the authorities. Survival International’s Director Stephen Corry, in a remark on the organization’s website, said, “Tribes like the Sentinelese face catastrophe unless their land is protected..”

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11. The History

Another tribe, called the Onge, was aware of the existence of the North Sentinelese and is known to have many cultural and social similarities with the tribe. Their traditional name for the island is Chia daaKwokweyeh. However, a profound aspect of separation is plausible since The Onges were brought down to the North Sentinel Island in the 19th century by the British in their quest for ‘civilization’ and hence they have language barriers.

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12. Indian Merchant Ship

In 1867, there was news about a shipwreck on a reef near the island. It was found out to be Nineveh, an Indian merchant ship. The surviving passengers and crewmen were counted to be 106 in number. They were instrumental in defending the hostile attacks of the islanders. The good news is that they were eventually found by a Royal Navy rescue party.

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13. First Expedition by Maurice Vidal Portman

In January 1880, an excursion was supervised by Maurice Vidal Portman in hopes of knowing more about the natives and their customs. They accomplished a successful landing on the island and found a network of pathways and many abandoned hamlets. As an experiment, six tribesmen, an elderly couple and four young ones were seized and transported to Port Blair. The officer in charge of the operation addressed that the whole group, “sickened rapidly, and the old man and his wife died, so the four children were sent back to their home with quantities of presents”

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14. His Subsequent Visits

On 27 August 1883, the eruption of Krakatoa was mistaken to be a gunshot and interpreted as a distress signal of some trapped ship. Consequently, it led to a second landing by Portman. A search party disembarked on their mission and left gifts before they returned to Port Blair. Several more visits to the islands by Portman has been recorded between 1885 and 1887.

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15. Contacts Ceased

Indian visits to the island ceased in 1997.

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16. Survived the Tsunami

The tribe survived the ferocious earthquake which resulted in a tsunami and the subsequent shifts in the geology of the island. A few days after this incident, several islanders were observed by the Indian Government helicopters, who shot right at them with spears and stones. Since the incident in 2004, the Sentinelese seem to have adapted quite well.

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17. Fishes of the Illegal Sea

It was in January 2006, when two fishermen were caught fishing in illegal waters and were killed by the Sentinelese as their boat sailed too close to the island. There were no prosecutions.

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18. Spreading the Message of Jesus

November 2018 shook the whole world when John Allen Chau, a 26-year-old American missionary, took over himself to preach Christianity to the Sentinelese and was killed as a result. Seven people alleged to be involved in Chau’s illegal access to the island were taken into custody. The incident was reported to be seen by a group of fishermen but the authorities haven’t been able to verify the death.

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19. Contact Trips Have Officially Stopped

Protests and demonstrations by the Survival and local supporters against the government’s attempts to establish contact with the islanders by luring them with gifts such as coconuts have made such contacts come to an end. The reason provided is that it puts both parties at high risk. Nonetheless, there are still periodic checks through the boats which ensure the safety of the tribe and in case of their decision to finally come out to the outer world.

Source: similarworlds.com