The island is administered by the Indian government, but the inhabitants basically have 100% autonomy. There's probably less than 100 of them on the island, so the government just let's them be.
I saw something about tgis. They also remain uncontacted because we may have a stronger immune system and we can kill them because we may bring a disease their bodies aren't immune to
kind of, they are not exposed, they attack anyone that comes near, so much so it is illegal to be within 5km of the island. They survived the tsunami as a helicopter that went to check were attacked. They obviously mistrust anyone that approaches, so if a visitor did make contact, they might kill off some of the population by disease, further creating mistrust. another crew shipwrecked were killed in their sleep, not sure of the year. estimated population is between 50-400 people
"Rescued by helicopter" it's not wholly untouched anymore then, is it?
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· 6 years ago
People have been on the island before, the British tried to contact them back in the 1800’s, but things went very wrong and they decided “screw this, we’ll leave on them their island”
What's the point? They have nothing to offer.
I'd prefer bringing them into the fold, but I have no idea how the logistics would work.
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· 6 years ago
@guest they tried to colonize them, but like I said, things went wrong. If I’m remembering this right, the way they usually dealt with native tribes there was they would kidnap a few people, treat them like royalty, then send them back to their own people. The released hostages would sing praise about the British, making “civilising” the people a piece of cake. However, when they kidnapped a few of these people, they inexplicably died (probably due to their immune system not having evolved as much due to isolation). Naturally, the tribe wasn’t too pleased.
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· 6 years ago
They’re not the only group of people that remain untouched and uncontacted by modern civilisation, there’s also up to 1000 people in a reserve in the Amazon forest
Also, this tribe is unique in the fact that rhey have likely been isolated since people first migrated to that region, meaning they are probably the closest to the way we were back then of all humans. They have barely advanced technologically, I’m not sure if they even have bows, and I think they’re also genetically distinct from other people in the region
I do believe you are correct. I recall that there is one particular tribe in the Amazon who are notably hostile to even observation and it is likely that there are some in African jungles too.
I don't think any genetic analysis has been performed, but you are likely correct that they most closely resemble the humans during that particular era of migration. Linguists have also determined that their language is unique and doesn't resemble others in the region.
They do have bows and have been observed to use three different arrow types. A fishing arrow, a hunting arrow and a headless blunt arrow used for warning shots.
With warning shot arrows, it can be inferred they are not without compassion, that they don't want to harm outsiders unless they are forced to.
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· 6 years ago
Huh, didn’t know all that, neat. I said they might not have bows because there are some tribes in the Amazon that haven’t got bows yet, so I thought it would be because the bow was developed independently by many different tribes after people left Africa. Then again, that’s no reason for the Sentinelese not to have invented it, which they evidently have
I think there was something about these people in BBC Human Planet or some other BBC thing. The helicopter flew over to get some shots and the people below didn't know what the hell was going on. They looked scared and awed and they were throwing spears and stuff at the helicopter. Oops, I didn't read through all the comments...I think what I'm talking about was a tribe from the Amazon ?
My mind knows I have no interest in ever trying to visit North Sentinel Island but damned if this doesn't read like a challenge and poke at my mind saying "We don't back down from challenges".
I'd prefer bringing them into the fold, but I have no idea how the logistics would work.
I don't think any genetic analysis has been performed, but you are likely correct that they most closely resemble the humans during that particular era of migration. Linguists have also determined that their language is unique and doesn't resemble others in the region.
They do have bows and have been observed to use three different arrow types. A fishing arrow, a hunting arrow and a headless blunt arrow used for warning shots.
With warning shot arrows, it can be inferred they are not without compassion, that they don't want to harm outsiders unless they are forced to.