There’s a tribe living in the Andaman Islands you know nothing about, and they prefer it that way

By Ananya Ak

“Man is by nature a social animal” is a well-known quote by Aristotle. This social nature and our ability to coherently communicate is what gives us such an edge over animals. But are all humans really social? Contradicting this is a real living tribe indigenous to the North Sentinel Island in the Andaman Islands, India, called the Sentinelese. A notoriously unsociable tribe, they have been known to shoot arrows at low flying aircraft and reject all attempts of contact. So little is known about the tribe that even their numbers can only be guessed at. There could be as little as 50 people to as many as 500 people in this untouched tribe. These Andamanese people are virtually the last of the people who are yet untouched by modern civilisation.

The origins of the tribe

As humans, we are a curious bunch, and against all resistance, several attempts have been made to establish contact with this elusive tribe. Every such attempt inevitably failed, but in the process, we did manage to learn a thing or two about the tribespeople. They are believed to have inhabited the island for up to 60,000 years, and it is even said that they are descendants of the first humans from Africa. Their African origin is evident from their short stature, dark skin and hair texture. They seem to be very primitive, which is to be expected from a people so removed from civilisation. They seem to survive on hunting, fishing and gathering, and also have access to cold- smithing techniques, made evident by their self-made weapons like harpoons, arrows and spears. However, they seem to have no knowledge of agriculture or the art of making fire. They cover their essential body parts with leaves and wreaths rather than with clothes and live in dwellings made of palm leaves. They have been heard speaking an unknown language, seemingly unrelated to even the languages of the neighbouring Andamanese people and tribes.

Attempts at establishing contact

Other aspects of their culture are largely unknown, mainly because no one has yet managed to spend the necessary amount of time with them. In fact, they were largely left alone because of claims of their cannibalism, until the British invaders came along in 1880, trying to ‘civilise’ them. They kidnapped a family of an elderly couple and their four children and took them to Port Blair, following which the couple promptly contracted diseases and passed away. The children managed to survive and returned to their home with many gifts, but this attempt at contact was considered a failure and the British left this particular tribe alone after that. However, the death of the couple shows that these people have very low levels of immunity towards diseases which are common in cities; so even something as mild as a case of flu may prove lethal to their survival. In fact, many of the Great Andamanese Tribes were driven to extinction by epidemics when they were colonised in the 1800s by the British. The last tribe to die out, the Bo Tribe, just became extinct 4 years ago with the death of their last member. Survival International reported that the tribespeople are “extremely healthy, alert and thriving” despite their primitive way of life, and external diseases may very well threaten their very existence. All this considered, maybe it is for the best that they remain uncontacted.

That said, after the disastrous British attempt at contacting the tribe, the Indian government tried to establish friendly contact with them again in 1967, the first of their “Contact Expeditions” as they fondly called them. Led by anthropologist T.N. Pandit, our government tried to make contact by leaving gifts and trying to signal their good intentions but ended up failing miserably. At best, the tribespeople showed rude gestures and screamed in their incomprehensible language, but they showed no qualms about using violence to protect themselves from the perceived danger. Shooting arrows at the friendly visitors was a common occurrence. There is only one reported incident of anything resembling friendly contact, or rather absence of aggression. Mr Pandit’s group was approached peacefully by 28 Sentinelese people on 4th January 1991 before they retreated into the forest. After the multiple rejections, even this gesture was termed “incredible” by Pandit. This was a major breakthrough, but it was not to last. After the death of another tribe in the Andaman Islands in 1996, the Government put an end to all further expeditions and contact attempts.

Declaration as ‘no contact land’

Perhaps the most shocking incident with this tribe was in 2006 when a couple of fishermen got too close to the island. They were illegally looking for mud crabs at the time, and their boat apparently drifted into the Sentinelese territory. They were greeted with a shower of arrows and a helicopter had to be sent to retrieve their bodies. Granted, the tribesmen were justified in their defensive actions this time, but this shows how fiercely they still protect their land and tribe. In fact, after the tsunami in 2004 which left them surprisingly unharmed, they refused any and all help offered by aiding helicopters. Though the rescuers did nothing more than drop food and clothing for the tribesmen, they replied with only arrows and violence. The Sentinel Island has since been declared as a “no contact land”, and authorities have forbidden contact with them. Going within three miles of the island is now illegal.

We try to establish contact with these primitive people with the aim of “improving their lifestyle” in addition to sating our own thirst for knowledge. But the real question is, does their life need improvement? Being “uncivilised” or following the “old ways” has evidently not prevented them from leading full, healthy lives. They are a thriving community with their own cultures and traditions in place. So what if they aren’t able to reap the benefits of today’s technology? Is it such a bad thing that they still don’t know how to make fire? They seem to be managing just fine without our interference. So keeping their happiness in mind, it seems best that they be left to their own devices because they don’t seem to want any help from civilisation anyway, and who are we to question an isolated tribe’s wishes?