An American Tourist Sailed To North Sentinel. It Ended Badly

on the 15th of November 2018 John Allen Chow took a boat to North Sentinel Island expecting a peaceful welcome he never made it back home although before we talk about who he was what he was doing and how he came to meet his fate let's first talk about the island itself located in the Bay of Bengal between India and Thailand North Sentinel Island measures six kilometers wide eight kilometers long and is home to one of the last uncontacted tribes on all of planet Earth the tribe is known to Outsiders as the sentinelese who have an estimated population of between 15 and 500 people however there's a reason why taking an accurate measurement is almost impossible they're unbelievably hostile to anybody who tries to visit The Islander the first example of this came in 1867 when an Indian merchant ship wrecked on the Island's reef and while the 106 passengers might have thought that they'd stumbled upon Paradise this couldn't have been further from the truth without warning the ship's crew were attacked by the tribe's bow and arrows and were only able to survive by returning fire with sticks and stones found on the beach they were rescued by a British Steamboat one week later yet the captain of the Shipwreck went on to describe the sentinelese by riding the Savages were perfectly naked with short hair and red painted noses and were opening their mouth and making sounds like part on awe their arrows appeared to be tipped with iron the Intriguing nature of the tribe led a party of armed British officials to return 13 years later in 1880. at which point they'd find quote a network of Pathways and several small villages that looked to have been freshly abandoned that eventually find four sentinelized children as well as an elderly couple who were kidnapped by the party and taken back to the nearby city of Port Blair however their stay didn't last very long as all six sentences sickened rapidly and the old man and his wife died so the four children were sent back to their home with quantities of presence 16 years after this a Hindu convict escaped on a makeshift raft from the adjacent great Andaman Island only to wash up 50 kilometers West in the worst place imaginable North Sentinel a search party found his body lying on the Beach pierced with iron Arrows with his death sending a clear enough message for nobody to return to the island for almost 80 years however in 1974 a film crew shooting a documentary called man in search of man landed on the island to leave gifts we came at last to what is known as the North Sentinel Island although some Expeditions had landed here the sentinelese had never been cited we left Gifts of coconuts knives lengths of cloth a pig after which the sentinelas were caught on camera for the very first time what are those moving ships are they human [Music] at last the first glimpse of the sentimile this tribe believes in total isolation it will not tolerate a stranger as is obvious in the footage the tribe had no interest in making friends and rather buried half of the gifts they've been given before shooting arrows toward the film crew a member of our film unit was wounded by one of the many arrows each two and a half meters long He will carry this car till his death if on Google Maps you zoom into the coastline on the Island's northwest corner you'll find a different boat which now acts as a permanent reminder of North sentinel's hostility and unrecoverability the ship going by the name of the MB Primrose had been transporting farming supplies to Australia before it wrecked on the unfortunate location in 1981. the ship's passengers were incredibly lucky because at the time this entire area was underwater keeping them at a safe distance while they organized their rescue were in the meantime The sentinelas observed the ship from their beach with the crew members describing the tribe as well-built frizzy head and black they were naked except for narrow belts that circled their wastes and they were holding Spears bows and arrows which they had begun waving in a manner that seem not altogether friendly however while almost every example so far displays the sentinelese as an Untouchable group of brutes it will be exactly 10 years later when a single Anthropologist did The Impossible he made peaceful contact for the very first time Tian Panda had been dropped dropping gifts and coconuts to the island every one or two months since 1967. although for the first 24 years of doing so the sentinelas maintain their hostility but all of this changed on the 4th of January 1991 when the tribe finally concluded that he was only there to help Panda described this day in a 2000 Interview With The American Scholar which stated a great many of the sentinelese started running down the beach and splashing through the surf toward the dinghy the director leapt from the boat into chest high water one of the young sentinelese men record in Fright and handed coconuts to the tribesmen as they crowded around him a few weeks later he returned to North Sentinel with another Expedition this time several Center lays men went so far as to climb into the dinghy and grab entire sacks of coconuts Panda was alone in the water with a group of sentinelese one of the young tribesmen looked at him scowled pulled out an iron-bladed knife and made a gesture Panda says like he was going to cut out my heart maybe he thought I was planning to stay on the island but the dinghy quickly returned to pick Panda up he would return to North Center Channel several more times before retiring from the anthropological survey in 1992. the interaction showed that peaceful contact with the tribe was possible although only after a significant period of trust building and even after tea and Panda's unique interaction the sentinelas retained their hostility toward any unfamiliar Outsider for example after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake caused the worst tsunami in recorded human history right next to North Sentinel Island a helicopter was sent out to see if the tribe had survived from such a catastrophic event well not only were the sentinelese somehow doing just fine but their response to the help offered by the Indian government was to throw Spears arrows and rocks toward the helicopter two years later in 2006 two men aged 48 and 52 were fishing for mud crabs near the island however the pair got so drunk that while sleeping the anchor of the boat which was a rock tied to a rope fell apart and drifted the men toward North Sentinel the following morning fellow fishermen said they tried to shout at the men and warned them that they were in danger however they did not respond they were probably drunk and the boat drifted into the shallows where they were attacked and killed a government helicopter was sent to recover the bodies however given the tribe's hostility all they were able to get was this photo after which A 5.6 kilometer exclusion Zone was enforced by the Indian government making it illegal for anybody to visit The Islander this in combination with every other example so far paints a very simple picture do not visit North Sentinel Island under any circumstances however unfortunately John Allen Chow never got the message born on the 18th of December 1991 in the state of Alabama John grew up in what seemed to be a standard Christian household with two parents and two siblings as he got older John began to get into various outdoor activities such as camping hiking and kayaking which when combined with his religious background inspired him to become an adventure blogger and Christian Missionary on his Instagram John displayed his trips to countless different countries including Mexico South Africa and Canada Each of which being documented on his rugged trail website however there was one location that John had his side set on which would make all the others seem insignificant North Sentinel he'd grown obsessed with the idea of visiting the island during his previous trip to the andamans in 2016 and judging from the quotes he posted to his Facebook John seemed to have been inspired by another missionary named Jim Elliott who was killed in the 50s whilst preaching to a native tribe in Ecuador although according to the head of the mission he was working for Jon was significantly more prepared all Charles decisions including his studies of sports science and training and working as a Wilderness emergency medical technician and classes he took in linguistics and cultural anthropology where in preparation to share Jesus with the North Sentinel ease it was very well prepared for this moment on the 21st of October 2018 John posted this image to social media showing that he was back in the nearby city of Port Blair where unbeknownst to his family he was planning his trip to what he called Satan's last stronghold AKA North Sentinel Island on the 15th of November 2018 only 25 days after landing back in the andamans Jon began a journal to document his trip to North Sentinel with his first entry stating that a group of fishermen had agreed to take him to the island illegally I met last night with the fishermen who were all believers and agreed to drop me off Jonathan won't be accompanying me as there will be at Sea doing their regular fishing Maneuvers to avoid raising suspicion and there is a high chance that they get checked by the Indian coast guard the meeting went well I trust them though I'm the only English speaker so there's quite a language Gap and I'm relying on the Holy Spirit to direct us the Drop Zone was pointed out on the map as being a Cove on the southwest of the island and I depart in three or so hours God I thank you for choosing me before I was even formed in my mother's womb to be your messenger for your great news to the people of North Sentinel Ireland Jon then explained his plan for First Contact by stating the plan is to link up with the crew tonight and depart tonight arriving at the shore around 4am from there we make Progressive contact with fish as gifts over the next few days and then send me off we might I'd even send a kayak later with gifts towards Shore the following day John explained that his trip to the island went as planned by riding at 4 30 we entered the Cove on the western shore which was followed by his first attempt to contact approximately four hours later around 8 30 I got two large fish around 15 pounds it felt like I put them on top of the kayak and began rowing two armed sentinelese came rushing out yelling at me they had two arrows each unstrung until they got closer I hollered my name is John I love you and Jesus Loves You Jesus Christ gave me the authority to come to you I regret I began to panic slightly as I saw them string arrows in their bows I picked up the half tuna and threw it toward them they kept coming I backpeddled facing them and then when they got the fish I turned and paddled like I never have in my life back to the boat I felt some fear but mainly was disappointed They didn't accept me right away I can now say I've been nearly shot by the sentinelese and I've walked on in cash gear on their Island now I'm resting on the boat and we'll try again later Jon escaped his first encounter unharmed however as mentioned in the previous entry they plan on returning for a second encounter which miraculously he'd survived once again I waited my kayak toward the Hut I'd been chased from on initial contact sure enough as I got there I heard the whoops and shouts from the Hut I made sure to stay out of Arrow range but unfortunately that meant I was also out of good hearing range so I got a little closer and as they about six from what I could see yelled at me I tried to Parrot their words back to them they burst out laughing most of the time so they probably were saying bad words or insulting me I yelled some phrases and sang them some worship songs and hymns and they would often fall silent after this here's when this nice meet and greet went South a child and a young woman both with bows came behind and I kept waving my hands to say no bows but they didn't get the memo I guess then a little kid with bow and arrow came down the middle and I figured this was it so I preached a bit to them starting in Genesis and disembarked my character showed them that I too have two legs but the little kid shot me with an arrow directly into my Bible which I was holding in front of my chest I stumbled back and I recall yelling at the kid for shooting me I had to swim almost a mile back to the boat at the mouth of the Cove the plan now is to rest and sleep on the boat by this point John already had an unbelievable story for the ages he had gone to the island survived his first day returned on a second day was shot by the center lays Point Blank but lived to tell the tale after the pages in his Bible decided to spare his life however as the journal entries continued it became obvious that Jon was happy for his legacy to be the guy who died trying to preach his religion to the tribe Lord let your will be done if you want me to get actually shot or even killed with an arrow then so be it I think I could be more useful alive though but to you God I give all the glory of whatever happens I don't want to die would it be wiser to leave and let someone else continue no I don't think so I still could make it back to the US somehow as it almost seems like certain death to stay here yet there is evidence of change in just two Encounters in a single day we'll try again tomorrow the following day John wrote his final entry in the journal beginning with is woke up after a fairly Restless sleep heading to Ireland now I hope this isn't my last notes but if it is to God be the glory before going on to write a goodbye message to his family reading Brian and Marilyn and Mum and Dad you guys might think I'm crazy in all of this but I think it's worth it to declare Jesus to these people please not be angry at them or a God if I get killed rather please live your lives in obedience to whatever he calls you to and I'll see you again when you pass through the veil don't retrieve my body I love you all and I pray that none of you love anything in this world more than Jesus Christ written from The Cove on the Southwest ish more like west of North Sentinel Island 16th of November 2018 6 20 a.m in the days that followed his family made a post to John's Instagram reading we recently learned from an unconfirmed report that John Allen Chow was reported killed in India while reaching out to members of the sentinelese tribe in the Andaman Islands words cannot express the sadness we have experienced about this report it was a beloved Son brother uncle and best friend to us to others he was a Christian Missionary A wilderness AMT an international soccer coach and a mountaineer he loved God life helping those in need and had nothing but love for the sentinelese people as a family we ask for your understanding and respect for him and US during this time thank you the ciao family three months later John's father criticized religion for the death of his son stating if you have anything positive to say about religion I wish not to see or hear it John has gone because the Western ideology overpowered my Confucian influence he blamed evangelical's extreme Christianity for pushing his child to a not unexpected end which is a Viewpoint often repeated across social media platforms John Alan Chao is not a murder just a dumb American who thought that tribals needed Jesus when the tribals already lived in harmony with God and nature for years without outside interference stupidity cannot be considered to be a martyrdom

Channel: SunnyV2

Views: 6,921,998

Keywords: true crime, true crime story, John Allen Chau, John Allen, sentinelese, aboriginal tribe, aboriginal, native islander, that chapter, strangeland, strange land, podcast, true crime asmr, asmr, true crime and makeup, north sentinel island, north sentinel

Id: RO6HZSIi4Wg

Length: 13min 58sec (838 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 08 2023