At a time when human contact and fellowship is said to lengthen the lifespan, there is a tribe in the tiny North Sentinel Island of Andaman and Nicobar in the Indian Ocean that is devoid of modern human contact.
While the world has moved on to technology, these hunters and gatherers have never practised agriculture.
Despite the 2011 census stating that there are 15 Sentinelese still on the island , there are suspicions that the tribe should be between 50 t0 400. There are, however, beliefs that they have inhabited the North Sentinel Island for over 60,000 years.
Some believe that these people are descendants of the first humans from Africa and have termed them the most dangerous tribe in the world.
Not much is known about this people because people who visit there barely make it out alive. Those who attempt to take photos, stay on the other side of the shore or from the air . If a person is seen taking pictures , a deadly and poisoned arrow is fired at the person.
Sometime in 2018, an American national John Allen Chau ventured onto the forbidden North Sentinel island and got killed by the reclusive and endangered Sentinelese tribe. It was found during investigation that Chau had bribed some local fishermen to take him to North Sentinel which is legally off bounds for tourists and sailed at night to evade the coast guard. The youth’s body was spotted on the beach of the island on November 17 by one of the fishermen and never seen again.
There are reports that the officer put in charge of the colony in 1880, Maurice Vidal Portman during his encounter with the people kidnapped a family and took them to Britain where the parents died because of their non- exposure to the climate . After he returned the children to the island with gifts, reports state that their hostility increased.
After several failed attempts to reach and give the people health aid, the Indian government in 2015 declared that have want nothing to do with their lifestyle and enforced a RAP law ( Restricted Area Permit ) to keep explorers from the Island.
However , this has changed as the government has lifted the RAP until December 31 , 2022 .
