The 72-square-kilometre-area North Sentinel Island is home to the fiercely independent Sentinelese tribe, known to reject any contact with outsiders. The international collaborative programme CORDIO (Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean) estimates that these uplifted North Sentinel Island reefs are unlikely to survive, as either they are positioned too high for high tide to reach them or submerged too shallowly to tolerate the increased intensity of sunlight. Circumstances were reversed to the south in the South Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where large land areas were submerged down to between one and four metres in depth. The formerly submerged coral reefs that ring North Sentinel Island are now exposed to the surface, as the entire North Andamans group has experienced tectonic uplift. So, victim Chau apparently did not commit any illegality when he entered North Sentinel.The 8.9 Richter scale earthquake that triggered the Asian tsunami on 26 December 2004 had a lasting effect on this location, part of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands chain. This means that foreigners are no longer required to seek permission to visit any of these islands. The order will remain in force till December 2022. The RAP was removed with the objective of promoting tourism. North Sentinel Island is one of these islands. In August this year, the Modi government removed the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) from 29 islands in Andaman Islands. They enjoy immunity as protection of the tribe is of paramount anthropological significance. If an outsider is attacked and killed by them for trespassing or trying to make contact with them, the police do not prosecute them. The Sentinelese tribals are practically the sovereign people of India. Finally in 1996, the government abandoned its programme to make contact with Sentinelese tribe. ![]() It became difficult for the government or a private party to make contact with Sentinelese tribe. But as the ships carried gifts and articles of use, they allowed boats to anchor near the coast and when after some of the goods were offloaded, they would shoot arrows at the visitors. The Sentinelese people started targeting anyone getting close to the shore. But the constant probing into their territory had a side effect. The first somewhat successful contact with the Sentinelese people could be made only in 1991. The British never set their feet on the island again.Īfter Independence, the Indian government launched a similar mission in 1967 under the department of tribal affairs. Their children were later released back on the island. ![]() The elderly couple contracted and died of diseases they had not built immunity for. They were all brought to Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He set out on an expedition deep into the forests and hills of North Sentinel Island.Īfter several days of the expedition, Portman captured six Sentinelese people - an elderly couple and their four children. Wikipedia records that around 1880, a young British officer Maurice Vidal Portman tried to bring Sentinelese people into the mainstream of development. But they were later found to be living on the island. A measles outbreak in 1999 was feared to have wiped out the entire tribe and race. The Jarawa community lives of hunting animals and gathering fruits from the forests. Their known number was only 13 but experts believe that more Shompen people could be living in the hilly areas. There is not much information about the Shompen people either. The population of the Onge people is only about 110. Their estimated population at that time was 8,000. The tribe fought fiercely before they surrendered in what is known as the Battle of Aberdeen. They were named so by the British, who fought a bitter war with them in 1859. The Great Andamanese live on the Great Andaman Island. Their use of metals is not specifically known with many believe that they don't use metals for purposes other than in weapons. This means they have a culture that existed in the middle period of Stone Age. ![]() Sentinelese people are believed to be the only pre-Neolithic people in the world. However, their numbers could be anything between 40 and 400. Nearly 2.28 lakh people died in that tsunami but Sentinelese people survived with minimum loss.įor 2011 Census, the enumerators could locate only 15 Sentinelese people - 12 men and three women. Experts believe that their own knowledge and understanding of the oceanic geography gave them advantage over the machine-equipped people in the neighbouring areas.
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