by Chris Kitching / The Daily Mirror
North Sentinel Island is home to the indigenous Sentinelese who killed American missionary John Allen Chau – who was trying to convert them to Christianity by shouting: “My name is John, I love you and Jesus loves you”
For centuries, outsiders have been warned not to set foot on North Sentinel Island because it meant almost certain death at the hands of a lost tribe.
The indigenous Sentinelese were already one of the most feared and mysterious tribes in the world before they killed American missionary John Allen Chau, who was trying to convert them.
Very little is known about the tiny group or their ways, as few people who have met them have lived to tell the tale.
The hunter-and-gatherer tribe fires a flurry of arrows at anyone who approaches by boat and even tries to attack low-flying planes or helicopters on reconnaissance missions.
It lives in complete isolation on what looks like an idyllic Indian Ocean island that is said to have been populated for 60,000 years.
The Sentinelese – considered the last pre-Neolithic tribe in the world – have rejected modern civilisation and have no contact with the outside world. Few photographs or videos exist, and it is not even known what they call themselves.
One thing is for certain, however. Their reputation is fearsome.
They have killed a number of outsiders who have strayed onto or too close to the island, which belongs to India and is about the size of Manhattan, over the years.
In 2006, the tribe killed two men who were fishing illegally in waters in the Bay of Bengal.
The men had moored their boat near the island to sleep, but they were killed when the boat broke loose and drifted onto the shore.
A tribesman was pictured firing an arrow at an Indian Coast Guard helicopter checking on the group’s welfare after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
Members wear little clothing and they live off the land and the fish that they catch. They are known to make narrow canoes that are propelled with a pole like a punt and are only used in shallow waters, according to Survivor International.
Their rituals are a mystery.
It is thought that they live in three small bands, residing in large communal huts with several hearths for multiple families, and temporary, single-family shelters with no sides.
Survivor International, a group that pushes for tribal peoples’ rights, said the women wear fibre strings tied around their waists, necks and heads, while the men also wear necklaces and headbands, but with a thicker waist belt.
The men carry spears, bows and arrows that they use to hunt or attack outsiders who stray too close.
For tools or arrow tips, the uncontacted tribe has used metal which has washed up on shore or been recovered from shipwrecks on reefs.
Survivor International said the islanders are “clearly extremely healthy and thriving”, unlike the Great Andamanese tribes that were colonised by the British in the 1800s.
It says on its website: “The people who are seen on the shores of North Sentinel look proud, strong and healthy and at any one time observers have noted many children and pregnant women.”
The size of North Sentinel Island’s population remains a mystery.
India has tried to carry out official counts by air, but the island has dense forest.
The government has tried to make contact with the group, largely without success. On a few occasions, the Sentinelese allowed officials to get close enough to hand over coconuts.
According to Survival International, in the late 1800s, Maurice Vidal Portman, a British naval officer who pacified Andamanese tribes, landed on North Sentinel Island with a large team to make contact.
They discovered abandoned villages and paths, and didn’t come across the first islanders – an elderly couple and children – until a few days later.
They took the couple and children to Port Blair, on South Andaman Island, “in the interest of science”, but they soon fell ill and the adults died, Survivor International said.
The children were returned to the island with gifts. Experts say it’s likely that the children passed on their illness to other tribe members, possibly with devastating results.
In the 1970s, Indian authorities tried to befriend the tribe, leaving two pigs and a doll on the beach during one trip. The Sentinelese speared and buried the pigs, along with the doll.
During other visits, coconuts, bananas and bits of iron were left as gifts.
On some occasions, tribe members made friendly gestures. On others, they took the gifts into the forest and then fired arrows at the officials.
In the 1980s and 1990s, several members of the tribe were killed by armed salvagers who were recovering irons and other goods from a shipwreck, it was reported.
Survivor International said there appeared to be a breakthrough for India’s government in 1991, when tribesmen approached without weapons for the first time and waded into the sea towards the contact party’s boat to collect more coconuts.
But officials were met with attacks during later visits.
India halted regular visits in 1996 amid concerns for the well-being of the tribe.
Officials still make periodic checks from afar, but India has banned people from getting close to the Sentinelese, while allowing them to carry on with their way of life.
It passed a law making it illegal to try to contact the tribe or travel within three miles of North Sentinel Island.
In 2014, the Indian Coast Guard apprehended seven men who were fishing illegally.
One of the men is said to have briefly set foot on the island before getting back on a boat unscathed.
Last week, the tribe killed Mr Chau, a 26-year-old missionary from Vancouver, Washington, and buried his body on the beach as he tried to convert its members.
Before he was killed, he wrote in his journal that tribesmen, about 5ft 5ins tall and wearing yellow paste on their faces, reacted angrily as he tried to speak their language and sing “worship songs” to them during his initial approach on November 15.
He shouted at them: “My name is John, I love you and Jesus loves you.”
He brought gifts including a football and fish.
But the group reacted angrily and one of the younger members fired an arrow, which pierced his waterproof Bible, and he retreated, the Washington Post reported.
He went on shore the next day, on November 16. It was the last time he was seen alive by the fishermen who took him to the island. The following day, last Saturday, they watched as islanders dragged and buried his body on the beach.
In his last note to his family, Mr Chau wrote: “God, I don’t want to die.”
His mother, Lynda Adams-Chau, doesn’t believe the reports that he was killed.
She told the Post: “I believe he is still alive.”
Asked why, she replied: “My prayers.”
In an earlier Instagram post, Mr Chau’s heartbroken family paid tribute to the adventurer and said they forgive his killers.
The post read: “He was a beloved son, brother, uncle, and best friend to us.
“To others he was a Christian missionary, a wilderness EMT, an international soccer coach, and a mountaineer.
“He loved God, life, helping those in need, and he had nothing but love for the Sentinelese people.”
Indian authorities have detained the fishermen who took Mr Chau to the island, and a friend in Port Blair who helped to organise the trip.
It was unclear whether officials would attempt to make contact with the tribe and recover Mr Chau’s body.
A helicopter was sent to the area to conduct reconnaissance on Tuesday. A separate team was travelling to the area on Wednesday.
Survivor International has pushed for the tribe’s protection to be maintained and respected, saying it is “very vulnerable” to diseases due to its “extreme isolation”.
It says on its website: “They vigorously reject all contact with outsiders.
“It is vital that their wish to remain uncontacted is respected – if not, the entire tribe could be wiped out by diseases to which they have no immunity.
“Contact imposed upon other Andaman tribes has had a devastating impact.
“Following a campaign by Survival and local organisations, the Indian government abandoned plans to contact the Sentinelese.
“Survival is campaigning to ensure that their current position – to not make further attempts to contact the tribe – is maintained.”