The most isolated tribe in the world was disturbed again. Who are and why they are aggressive?

Influencer was very lucky and was only arrested last month, after trying Give a coconut and a Coke to the Northern Sentinel tribe. History explains to us why these “uncontent” humans are so aggressive.

A 24-year-old US YouTuber was arrested in India on March 29 for trying to approach (illegally) to an unreserved tribe.

But Mykhale Viktorovych Polyakovwhich calls itself a “danger tourist” on social networks, did not try to establish contact with any tribe.

Polyakov went to Northern sentinelwhere the so -called sentries live highly isolated for over 55 thousand years, On that island that, if belonged to the Azores archipelago, would only be larger in area than the crow.

It is well known that the group usually reacts defensive against strangers and that they tried to contact.

Still, the influencer documented in detail his 9 -hour trip to the dangerous Indian Ocean Island, part of the Andamão islands, where the indigenous tribe, considered to most isolated population on the planet: There is no contact with people outside and avoid it at all costs.

“They vigorously reject all the contact with the abroad, attacking anyone who approaches,” Survival International, an NGO who has been fighting for years to protect them.

With an inflatable raft he modified, the young American crossed about 37 kilometers to reach the island. It was out of the islandblowing a whistle to call the indigenous people.

For brief moments, went to the sand to leave a coconut and a coke As a “offering” and gathering grains while filming everything with a GoPro. Luckily, no member of the tribe appeared.

Later, the content creator was detainee By invasion of property, according to the, but may also be accused of filming and photographing the tribe. It faces up to 5 years in prison if convicted.

“The US citizen was present to a local court after detention and is now under police custody for three days to be questioned,” said CDAMÃO and Nicobar police chief HGS Dhaliwal.

History of hostility (which did not arise “for nothing”)

The sentimentos, who are believed to be the last living descendants of the early humans to arrive in Asia, are strictly protected by Indian law, precisely because of the dangerous contacts of tribocom to the outside. India rigorously prohibits any visit to the northern sentry.

During the 2004 tsunami, the sentinees tried to attack the Indian coastal guard helicopters with the zone, but the indigenous people would become famous two years later, after they had murdered two Indian fishermen, while they fished illegally near the island.

When the anchor of his boat released at night, they gave the coast unknowingly and were killed by the tribe. A week after his death, his bodies were hung from bamboo piles overlooking the sea, the local police confirmed at the time.

John Chau It had similar destination, in 2018. The Missionary for the Sentinese as he tried to convert them to Christianity. Your body has never been recovered and 7 people were arrested for connection to the murder, all local fishermen who will have helped him reaching the island.

“We have no idea about their communication systems, about their history or about their culture, or how we can approach ourselves,” Anthropologist Anupi Kapoor, from the University of Delhi, told AFP.

But this hostility did not arise “for nothing”. One of the first contacts with the group, which refers to the end of the nineteenth century, proves it.

First glance

When the British landed in the northern sentry, they saw a couple and four children and “in the name of science” kidnapped them and took us to the house of the responsible British officer, like himself, himself, M.V. Portmanin a book published in 1899.

The adults died, sick, while the children will have been returned with some “offerings.” Hostility may have been born on this day: the results of the British experience may have been devastating to the tribe, as we will realize later.

“It cannot be said that we have done more than increasing your general terror and hostility to all visitors”reflected the colonizer.

From the 1970s, visits to the sentinese were again fashionable: people asked for the island, in search of an adventure in the unknown. Despite some gestures that seemed friendly, contact has always had an answer: violence.

Pigs offered – as well as a doll – ended up buried, and well received gifts, such as bananas, coconuts and iron, were paid with different currency: arrow shots.

When a woman sat with the sentinese

In 1991, something changedpossibly out of necessity. A humanitarian boat that arrived there with coconuts was well received and called to the coast by the Sentineles, but contact never unfolded in friendship. The impressive moment was recorded on video:

Among the anthropologists who went to the scene was a woman, Madhumala chattopadhyaythat since childhood had a fascination with the group and that ended up living on the beach with children and women’s women.

The first successful friendly contact with Sentinelese people happened in 1991 led by Dr.Madhumala Chattopadhyay.

We left them with a slew of gifts of various kinds.

– Arya | ārya (@tez4d)

“We were all a little apprehensive because a few months earlier the team sent by the administration had found the usual hostility,” Indiana, 27 years after the unforgettable moment. “We started to float coconuts to them. To our surprise, some of the sentinees entered the water to catch the coconuts,” while women and children watched from a distance.

But “a young man of about 19 or 20 was with a woman on the beach, suddenly she lifted her bow. I called them to pick up the coconuts using tribal words I had learned when I worked with other region tribes,” he recalled, “The woman pushed him and the boy entered the water to catch coconuts.”

“Later, some of the tribe members came to play on the boat. We felt that this gesture indicated that they were no longer afraid of us.” The team tried, but the tribe did not take them to the jungle. A month later, they tried to contact again with a larger team.

“They saw us approach and came to meet us without their weapons,” says the anthropologist, but this time they entered the boat without permission and “tried to take the shotgun that belonged to the police, confusing it with a piece of metal.” When one of the team members tried to offer an ornament made from leaves to one of the tribe members, The situation became very dangerous.

“The man was angry and got out of the knife. He made us a gesture to leave immediately and we left,” the scientist recalled in the magazine in 2018.

Possibly, India gave up: Aid visits and missions have been banned in 1996. The Coast Guard is currently a cap near the coast to try to prevent outsiders from approaching too much.

Tribe “Not Contacted”, but different

The tribe is, like about 100 groups in remote parts around the world, considered “Not contacted”.

By definition, being a “unconteacted” human being does not ever have seen a human or never had some kind of contact with someone outside his tribe. The “uncontwined” are “tribal peoples that avoid contact with people from outside. They can be whole people or subgroups of larger tribes who have contact,” explains the organization of defense of the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples.

These tribes are nonetheless incontabbed just because someone records them or interacts with them; They can also contact with other humans, neighboring populations, usually other indigenous tribes with whom they often make exchanges.

Nor are they “stuck” in the Stone Age – an idea that many of us “on this side” we have. Yes, many know that we are on this side, but they choose, with all the right, not to live like us.

Despite everything, the sentimentos are different in the sense that, unlike the majority, They have no neighboring groups and are the most isolated people in the world. The neighboring indigenous peoples were decimated by the disease and violence after the British colonization of their islands.

How the sentinese live

And these not contacted tribes also evolve, contrary to what one might think. Let us look at the Sentineles themselves, who “use metal that was taken by the waters or who have recovered from wreck ships on the reefs of the islands,” explains Survival International: “Iron is sharp and used to the tip of its arrows.”

The sentries live in three groups, composed of about 150 people. It is not known what name they give themselves-because no one knows which language they speak-but a neighboring people, onge-whose contact with the British cost them 85% of the population-call them “Chia daaKwokweyeh“.

The nomadic tribe of hunter-gatherers survives the base of hunting, which is a kind of mystery on the island, but it is thought to be based on wild boars and bastards. It also lives on the collection of fruits and other foods, and is known for its ability to build boats (narrow canoes) and fish in shallow waters.

They live in large cabins, which give to several families, or in temporary beach shelters, with space for a family. Both men and women wear only fiber strings, waist, neck and head, although men wear a thicker belt at their waist. They carry spears, arches and arrows.

We know all this based on observation, in the distance, from boats always anchored at least one arrow.

The trauma of Brazilians Zo’é

This type of groups would not benefit from coming to our Beira, as many people think. THE Lack of immunity to various diseases – Even the simplest, like the flu – is of greatest concern.

“It is well known very well that the uncontended peoples do not have immunity to common external diseases such as flu or measles, which could completely exterminate them,” said Caroline Pearce, director of the NGO Survival International, in.

A great example is that of Brazilian tribe Zo’é. Until 1987, they lived isolated in the Amazon rainforest, but everything changed after the first contact with the outside world. When evangelical missionaries of the new tribes mission began to interact with them, the tribe suffered a great demographic collapse due to exposure to diseases such as flu and malaria. It is estimated that more than one third of the population has died a few years after the first contact.

“It is our duty to protect them”

“It is unbelievable that someone can be so reckless and stupid,” said the NGO director about the recent behavior of the US influencer. “The actions of this person not only endanger their own life, but the life of the whole Sentinelean tribe at risk.” And took the opportunity to remind the world of another injustice to happen in India with the Shufflenot contacted group from Ilha Grande Nicobar, not far from Northern Sentinel.

“The Shompen will be exterminated if India takes its plan to transform its island into the ‘Hong Kong of India’,” said the activist, referring to plans to build a multibillion dollar city with 650,000 inhabitants, with a port, an international airport and an electric center.

“The common factor in all these cases is the refusal of governments to respect international law and recognize and protect the territories from isolated peoples,” he warns.

The way of life of these peoples is increasingly threatened by invasion, environmental destruction and unwanted contacts. Defenders of these groups have reinforced the need for respect for their desire not to be contacted and appealed to the application of protective measures in their territories.

But we should not leave them alone and in peace either: “It is our duty to protect them.”