North Sentinelese: the most isolated tribe in the world

On an island in India lives the only tribe that has not come into contact with civilization.

We live in a modern, globalized society. Regardless of opinions on the subject, it is undeniable that in the age of globalization contact with different cultures is something that is constantly sought after constantly sought by a large majority of the population, sharing ideas, points of view and advances of different kinds.

But this contact is not sought by everyone. There are many groups and tribes that reject contact with other human beings external to them, protecting their way of life and customs. An example of this can be found in the northern Sentinelese, who live totally isolated from the rest of the world..

One of the most isolated and unknown tribes.

Located in the Indian Ocean, among the islands belonging to the Andaman Islands archipelago, there is an island called North Sentinel. an island of about 72 square kilometers called North Sentinel.. This area belonging to India is home to the Sentinelese, one of the few primitive tribes that have so far avoided contact with the rest of humanity, preserving their customs and traditions without coming into contact with civilization.

Knowledge about this tribe is very scarce, limited mainly to observations made by satellite images and aerial reconnaissance, and the few attempts to get closer to them. and the few attempts at rapprochement that have been made throughout history.

The Northern Sentinelese are a tribe that has been characterized as an elusive people who actively avoid contact with both the outside world and other tribes. They are territorial and before attempted contact by strangers have reacted either by avoiding them or by violence.. Neither the structure nor the meaning of their language is known and, in fact, it is not even known how they call themselves, the name given to them being a toponym.

A way of life on the fringes of civilization

The people of North Sentinel are a tribe of pre-Neolithic characteristics, believed to be directly descended from the first Asians who arrived on the island about sixty thousand years ago. Their technological level corresponds to that of primitive tribes, possessing weapons made of wood and stone, which they use to defend themselves. which they use in order to defend their territory and kill prey, although occasionally they also use iron that comes to them from remains and debris that reach them by sea. They do not seem to know fire, and the aerial images obtained of the island do not reflect the existence of areas of livestock or farmland.

They are a tribe of hunters and gatherers, and they have been seen hunting in the forests and fishing on the beaches of SentinelThey have been seen hunting in the forests and fishing on the beaches of North Sentinel. They build narrow canoes that they use to navigate in shallow waters. Despite these simple living conditions, their general state of health appears to be good and stable, with a good proportion of children and pregnant women having been sighted. They live in large communal houses that can be seen from the air, although they also have small huts at specific points, such as on the beach.

As for the number of people who are part of the Sentinelese tribe, although only a partial census has been taken by remote observation, it is estimated that the Sentinelese tribe is made up of between thirty and several hundred people, who cannot grow too much due to the difficulties caused by having to hunt and gather for subsistence.

Their small number makes them able to meet their food needs. It is therefore a tribe of hunters and gatherers who survive in a relatively small territory. survives in a relatively small territory due to its small demographic expansion..

Contacts with the Sentinelese throughout history

The first known contacts with the northern Sentinelese apparently date back to the 13th century. Marco Polo already wrote about this tribe Marco Polo already wrote about this tribe, saying that upon the arrival of a foreigner, the natives killed him and then devoured him. This is probably an exaggeration, given that in the few subsequent attempts at contact, no evidence of cannibalistic behavior has been found among the inhabitants of this island, but it does give an idea that the reaction to the arrival of strangers was not positive.

In the 19th century, at the height of the colonial era, a British officer surnamed Portman landed on the island in an attempt to make contact with the native population.. This approach was apparently unsuccessful, since the expedition did not meet the natives, who hid in the jungle.

There were other expeditions with the same results, although in one of them two elders and two children were found, who were kidnapped and forcibly taken to civilization, the two elders dying of disease and the two children being returned to their village with numerous gifts. It is possible that this resulted in the transmission of western diseases for which the natives' immune system was not prepared, producing large casualties that could eventually lead to the existence of animosity towards foreigners. for which the natives' immune systems were unprepared, resulting in heavy casualties that could eventually lead to alien animosity.

Another well-known attempt at contact was made in 1978, when a team of anthropologists went to North Sentinel to film the documentary film Man in the search of man. The end result was that the natives attacked the film crew and they had to flee, fleeing and they had to flee, injuring the director of the documentary with arrows.

While on almost every occasion the Sentinelese reactions to outside contact have been aggressive, in some cases there have been more favorable results in which the islanders have allowed a certain level of rapprochement and even accepted gifts. and even accepted gifts. In 1991 a first contact was made in which the natives approached unarmed to accept gifts, but after a short period of time and for reasons that have not become known, the Sentinelese ended up refusing contact again.

After several years of failing to achieve a successful approach and the Sentinelese attacking those who approached their island, attempts to contact the Sentinelese were suspended, the attempts at rapprochement were eventually suspended.. This also contributed to the fact that similar programs with other tribes of the archipelago ended up with devastating consequences for the natives, with the degradation of the habitat and the death of a large part of their populations due to diseases.

The most recent contacts

In 2004 an earthquake and subsequent tsunami shook and devastated much of North Sentinel Island. The authorities decided to send helicopters to check if the tribe had survived, only to find that at least some of them had; some of the natives appeared to point bows and arrows at the aircraft.

More recently, in 2006 two poachers disregarded a ban on docking on the island's reefs.. The search helicopters found the boat on the shore of the island and the bodies half-buried in the sand, which could not be recovered due to the hostile attitude of the natives to the approach of the aircraft.

The importance of their isolation: protective measures

Although knowledge about the existence and culture of the North Sentinel tribe is very scarce and could help in the understanding of the evolution of human societies, the fact that they do not maintain contact with other human groups is not a factor in their isolation. prevents them both from being assimilated by other cultures and from dying due to their own contact.. And it must be taken into account that, being a tribe that has remained and survived separated from the rest of humanity, their immune systems could suffer from contact with other cultures as they have not acquired the necessary defenses to fight diseases that for us are only a nuisance or are easily curable.