![]() But the boat's anchor rope broke and the boat drifted to the island's shores. The fishermen had moored their boat near the island and had slept off. The extent of that damage - if any - still remains unknown.Īccording to the Survival International, the Sentinelese killed two Indian fishermen who inadvertently landed on the island. The helicopters flew over the North Sentinel Island in order to assess the damage the Sentinelese may have suffered due to the tsunami. So much so that during the 2004 tsunami, the Sentinelese attempted to shoot arrows at helicopters of the Indian Coast Guard. The numbers could be higher since the census was done from a distance.Īccording to Survival International, a global rights group that campaigns for tribal people, the Sentinelese "vigorously reject" contact with the outside world. The 2011 Census of India counted 15 Sentinelese people on the North Sentinel Island. ![]() In 2017, the government had clarified that the Sentinelese are identified as an "aboriginal tribe" and that videos showing them cannot be uploaded on social media or the internet. They cannot be prosecuted and any contact with them or entry into areas inhabited by them is illegal.Įven taking videos of the Sentinelese people is prohibited. The Indian law protects the Sentinelese people, whose number is estimated to be under 50. The North Sentinel Island, where Chau's body is still lying, is home to the Sentinelese, an indigenous tribe that furiously rejects outside contact. A group of seven fishermen agreed to help and took to a forest located on the island. He was also looking for "adventure", the source said.Īccording to SP Deepak Yadav, Chau contacted some fishermen in order to reach the North Sentinel Island. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment," the spokesperson said.ĭeepak Yadav, a Superintendent of Police in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Criminal Investigation Department, told India Today TV that Chau reached the union territory on October 16.Ĭhau, sources said, was a missionary who wanted to meet the Sentinelese in order to convert them to Christianity. "When a US citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts. The welfare and safety of US citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the US Department of State," a US Consulate spokesperson said. "We are aware of reports concerning a US citizen in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. ![]() Just more than a dozen people are officially thought to live on the remote island, which about 50 kilometer (31 miles) west of Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, an Indian territory.27-year-old John Allen Chau was a Christian missionary who wanted to convert the Sentinelese tribe The tribe and their home are protected by Indian law to maintain their way of life and protect them from modern illnesses because they lack immunity. The Sentinelese live in complete isolation on the remote island in the Andaman archipelago, and are thought to have done so for tens of thousands of years. “God Himself was hiding us from the Coast Guard and many patrols,” he wrote.Īll seven locals who facilitated the trip have been arrested. ![]() His notes indicate that he knew the trip was illegal, describing how the small fishing vessel transported him to the isolated island under cover of darkness, evading patrols. “Lord, is this island Satan’s last stronghold where none have heard or even had the chance to hear your name?” he wrote. In pages left with the fishermen who facilitated his trip to the island, his musings are a clear indication of his desire to convert the tribe. Shortly after, a young member of the tribe shot at him, according to his account. “I hollered, ‘My name is John, I love you and Jesus loves you,’” he wrote in his diary, pages of which were shared by his mother with the Washington Post. Sentinelese tribe thought to have killed American 'world's most isolated.'
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