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16 Apr 2025 17:59
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  •   Home > News > International

    North Sentinel Island: How have the Sentinelese people stayed isolated for so long?

    The Sentinelese are believed to be the last pre-Neolithic tribe in the world and have had very little contact with the outside world.


    The arrest of an American tourist after visiting a highly restricted island in the Indian Ocean has raised the interest in the plight of its inhabitants.

    Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov set foot on North Sentinel Island, part of India's Andaman Islands, in a bid to meet the Sentinelese people.

    He left behind a can of Diet Coke and a coconut and filmed his experience with the tribe on the island.

    Indian authorities arrested him after he returned from his nine-hour trip in a small boat.

    The Sentinelese are believed to be the last pre-Neolithic tribe in the world and have had very little contact with the outside world.

    But who are they, and how have they remained disconnected for so long?

    What do we know about the Sentinelese people?

    In truth, not a lot.

    They are the most isolated Indigenous people in the world.

    The tribe lives on their own small forested island called North Sentinel in the Indian Ocean.

    It is not known for certain, but the ancestors of the Sentinelese may have lived on the island for over 50,000 years.

    The island is just under 60 square kilometres in size and is 1,200km from the Indian mainland.

    [MAP]

    Most of what is known about them has been gathered by viewing the tribe from boats, and they are known to hunt and gather in the rainforest.

    They have also been seen fishing in the coastal waters.

    Their language and customs remain a mystery to outsiders, and the group shun all contact and have a record of hostility to anyone who tries to get close.

    Survival International spokesperson Johnathan Mazower said the tribe had developed a sophisticated way of living.

    "They have clearly not wanted any outside interaction for a long time but they have evolved a very sophisticated way of life … and clearly thrived on this island in a self-sufficient way for a very long time," he said.

    "If you look at all the photos and videos that have been taken they have been clearly extremely healthy and doing very well."

    Why is it illegal to visit?

    Despite their isolation, the Sentinelese come under Indian government rule.

    In 1956, India declared North Sentinel Island a tribal reserve and put a ban on any travel within 5 kilometres of it.

    To this day, India maintains a constant armed patrol in the surrounding waters to stop people from making contact with the tribe.

    This is to protect the Indigenous people from outside diseases and to preserve their way of life.

    In 2017, the Indian Government introduced further laws which forbid taking photographs or making videos of the Andaman tribes.

    They haven't been completely forgotten by the Indian government though.

    The Sentinelese survived the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and following the incident the Indian Navy sent a helicopter to conduct a welfare check on the group.

    Whilst flying overhead, the helicopter was shot at with arrows by members of the tribe.

    Previous encounters end in tragedy

    There has been many attempts at contact with the tribe throughout history, some proving somewhat peaceful but most ending in tragedy.

    Most notably, a Christian missionary, John Allen Chau, was apparently shot and then left dead on the beach in 2018, after he paid fishermen to illegally tow him to the island.

    The first reported contact with the tribe came in the late 1800s when a M.V. Portman, the British 'Officer in Charge of the Andamanese' landed with a large team on the island.

    "In the interest of science", an elderly couple and four children were kidnapped and taken to Port Blair where it is believed the couple died.

    The British group then dropped the four children back to North Sentinel Island with a hoard of gifts.

    Reporting in his notebook at the time, Mr Portman said "we cannot be said to have done anything more than increase their general terror of, and hostility to, all comers."

    During the 1970s and 80s, the Indian government made trips to the island to try and befriend the locals.

    Those attempts proved futile and the visiting parties were met with force, however in 1991 the Sentinelese reportedly welcomed gifts from an Indian government envoy.

    In 1996, the visits by the government stopped altogether.

    Since then, all landings on the island have been made by non-government groups and have been illegal.

    Two Indian fishermen were killed by the tribe on 27 January 2006, after their boat drifted towards the island when their anchor failed during the night.

    And most recently, was American Youtuber Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov's visit.

    He allegedly kept blowing a whistle off the shore of North Sentinel Island for an hour to attract the tribe's attention.

    "He landed briefly for about five minutes, left the offerings on the shore, collected sand samples, and recorded a video before returning to his boat," Andaman and Nicobar Islands police chief HGS Dhaliwal said.

    "A review of his GoPro camera footage showed his entry and landing into the restricted North Sentinel Island."

    He is now on a three-day remand for further interrogation.


    ABC




    © 2025 ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved

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