A group of people that have never formally been in contact with the rest of the world, the people of North Sentinel Island are considered one of the most isolated groups in the world. Located in the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal, the Sentinlese people have inhabited the island for an unidentifiable period. However, they have their own customs and languages with limited contact with the outside world. Indeed, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Regulation Act of 1956 made it illegal for visitors to be within 5 kilometers of the island by the Indian government, with anthropologists and researchers being exempted. The Sentinelese people are often hostile to intruders, so how did this come to be?
There are many instances in which these people have been documented. In the 13th Century, great explorer Marco Polo, without actually visiting the island, described them as “a most brutish and savage race, having heads, eyes, and teeth like those of dogs…” In the age of colonization, British Naval Officer Maurice Vidal Portman was given the colony of Andaman and Nicobar to reign over. Upon exploring the island, he captured an elderly North Sentinelese couple along with 4 children. Upon their capture, they became very sick, with the elderly couple dying not too long after. The children were hastily returned by Portman and his men, along with bundles of coconuts to reconcile with the North Sentinelese people for their disturbance.
A century later, a film crew, with an interest in meeting with the Island’s inhabitants, 1974 produced a film titled, “Man in Search of Man.” In the beginning, their mission was to capture sight of these people; while they’d been seen before, they’d never been photographed before. The team left gifts of coconuts, knives, clothes, and a pig. Upon observing the team on their boat, the tribe started shooting arrows at the film crew and held spears. Despite this, the team had successively captured proof of their existence.
However, on January 4th, 1991, a larger accomplishment was made. Anthropologist T.N Pandit made peaceful contact with them. Recurringly, he had been dropping off gifts on the island, when one day a tribesman finally picked up the bundles of coconuts in front of his team.
The North Sentinelese people haven’t always been hostile to their visitors, but have grown in such a manner because of past experiences. The North Sentinelese people have shown no interest in the modern world. So, forcing these people to live in a way that is “normal” to us, is not “normal” for them. While their history is not documented and the Island is not geographically mapped out, their isolation has been proven desired.
