- [Narrator] It may not look like it but this is known as the most
dangerous island in the world. At first glance it looks
like one of the many islands in the Andaman Islands
located in the Bay of Bengal. But, what is that shape off its coast and what secrets does this island hide? Prepare to be amazed by the
story of what is believed to be the last known
pre-neolithic people on Earth and one of the few
uncontacted civilizations. (whimsical music) Just how have these people remained free from outside interference for so long? After all, the rest of humanity
is spread around the globe. Ironically, although they have not left North Sentinel
Island in many millennia, the Sentinelese are
believed to be descended from one of the first groups
of humans to leave Africa. Historically, European
colonization of other parts of the world hasn't ended well
for the Indigenous people. Fortunately for the Sentinelese, they've managed to avoid being colonized and haven't really had much contact with the rest of the world at all. There have been a few instances though. The Sentinelese are believed to have been among the first humans to leave Africa, settling on their island
around 60,000 years ago. They're known to the Onge, another group of indigenous
people from the Andaman Islands. Based on what little is
known of the Sentinelese, their culture also seems
similar to the Onge. However, when the British
brought Onge members to meet the Sentinal Island
group in the nineteenth century, they were unable to communicate as their languages were very different. It was clear there had been a long period of separation between the two groups. In 1771, British surveyor
John Ritchie noticed lights on North Sentinel Island while doing some work for the East India Company. You might remember their association with Christopher Columbus. Unlike Columbus, Ritchie didn't stop at North Sentinel Island, but noted the multitude
of lights, and moved on. The island disappears from
recorded history until 1867, when an Indian merchant ship called the Ninevah wrecked on its shores. A little more than a
hundred passengers survived, and after a few days on the shore, they were attacked by the Sentinelese, who didn't seem to want any company. The captain noted the Sentinelese carried iron-tipped arrows, shortly before he escaped in a small boat. He was later picked up by a rescue party, along with everyone else
who managed to survive by throwing sticks and
stones at the Sentinelese. For the next thirteen years, the British colonists of
the Andamanese Islands took the hint and left
North Sentinel alone. But in 1880, the officer
in charge of the colony, Maurice Vidal Portman, led
an expedition to the island. They took along some aboriginal people of the Andamanese islands who
guided them into the island, where they found pathways and
recently abandoned villages. The Sentinelese seemed to
have vanished into the forest. Portman might have been relieved
they didn't stick around and defend their home by throwing arrows, but he decided to press
his luck and keep looking. After several days, he found
six of the island's people, an elderly couple and four children. Then he decided the best
way to introduce himself and his society would be to kidnap them. Yeah (laughs) I know, the logic here isn't
very well thought out. They were hauled onto his
ship and taken to Port Blair. Shortly after, the captives
all became very sick, likely due to the fact that
their isolated community had not been exposed to the
rest of the world's germs in almost 60,000 years. The elderly couple died, and the children were quickly returned to the island with a bunch of presents. Portman apparently thought
that gifts totally make up for kidnapping and wrongful death. Actually, he didn't express any
remorse about what happened, and instead insulted the Sentinelese, saying they had what he thought
of as an idiotic expression of countenance and manner of behavior. Portman made several more
visits to the island, which he was lucky to survive
considering how he introduced himself plus the people's lack
of fondness for strangers. He may have had second thoughts
about his actions though because in later years he noted that the islanders'
interactions with outsiders had done them nothing but harm. After that, the island
was mostly left alone, although an escaped convict
from Port Blair made it onto the shore in 1896. Apparently the Sentinelese had decided they were through with outsiders, maybe because of that
whole kidnapping incident and promptly killed him. Before I talk about more recent episodes of contact with the island, you should subscribe if
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on some amazing knowledge that could have filled your brain. Now lets get back to it. It wasn't until the 1960's
that anthropologists decided to study the island and its
people, or try to, anyway. Indian anthropologist Triloknath Pandit was the first to land
on the island in 1967, and like Portman, he
initially found it deserted. He and his crew poked
around the empty huts, leaving gifts of candy,
cloth, and buckets, and pilfering a few items
for their own study. A few years later, a second
group of anthropologists visited the island to shoot a documentary. They were accompanied by Indian police, apparently out of concern
they'd be attacked. Their fears were realized when a hail of arrows headed for their boat. They moved away from the attackers and landed further down the shore, but it wasn't long before
arrows were flying again, even as they left gifts of coconuts, cookware, a doll, and a pig. The director was shot in the thigh, and the tribe member who
shot him had a good laugh while the others buried the pig and doll. Guess he wasn't quite
ready for his closeup. The crew retreated and that was the end of their documentary-making
on North Sentinel Island. Then in 1981, a ship called the Primrose ran
aground just off the island. The crew was at first
relieved to see land, then their relief quickly
turned to horror when they saw the Sentinelese people running
toward them with weapons. After sending out a distress call, they fought the natives off
with axes and a flare gun. Eventually they were
rescued by the Indian Navy. The wreck of the Primrose
is that mysterious shape you'll see off the coast
of North Sentinal here. But Despite the tribe's unfriendliness, Pandit continued visiting
the island intermittently for more than twenty years. In 1991, he finally had
a peaceful encounter with some Sentenelese men. They even climbed into his
boat and looked it over. He distributed coconuts,
which don't grow on the island but the tribe members seem to like. After that, the Indian government decided to stop studying the island, fearing anthropologists or other visitors might bring modern germs
to the Sentinelese. Yes, more than a hundred
years after Portman sickened his kidnapping victims, someone
finally thought of that. The Indian government has
said they have no desire to interfere with the island's residents or enforce law there,
although North Sentinel is technically considered a protectorate of the Indian government,
for all practical purposes it remains a sovereign entity. Yet, the Indian government
did send a helicopter to check on the island several
days after the 2004 tsunami. They feared the people had not survived, but they were wrong,
apparently the inhabitants had moved to higher ground
before the tsunami hit. Although the storm damaged
their fishing grounds, they seem to have adapted. Two years later, a couple
of fisherman got drunk and fell asleep on their boat. Unbeknownst to them, their homemade anchor of a rock on a rope failed, and they drifted toward
North Sentinel Island. Other boaters tried to warn them, but they didn't notice, probably because they
were under the influence of large amounts of alcohol. Sadly, there's a reason you shouldn't drink and drive a boat. They drifted into the
shallows of the island, where the Sentinelese shot
and killed them with arrows. The Indian coast guard
attempted to retrieve their bodies in a helicopter, but they, too, were met with a hail of arrows. Finally they gave up,
noting the bodies appeared to have been buried in
shallow graves on the island. Since the incident, the
Indian government established a three mile exclusion
zone around the island, to protect both its inhabitants, and anyone unlucky or inebriated
enough to get too close. Because they are so secluded
and eschew visitors, little is known about the Sentinelese. They're hunter-gatherers who
migrated to the island prior to the development of agriculture. Their huts are constructed of palm leaves, and they have larger communal
dwellings with partitions. Their weapons consist of
javelins and flat bows. Arrows collected from helicopters
that buzzed the island suggest they use different arrow
shapes for different tasks, like hunting, fishing, and defense. The island is surrounded by coral reefs, with no natural harbors. Much of it is covered in forest, and it's impossible to know exactly how many people live there. Estimates range from 50 to 500. Despite the three mile exclusion
zone around the island, the Sentinelese still
have modern day threats. In the Andaman Islands, tourism
businesses often promise to show visitors the oldest
tribes found in these islands. Some have ruthlessly exploited the Jarawa, another native tribe
of the Andaman islands. Concerns arose when one
resort began construction on new buildings, very
close to the Jarawa reserve. On the Andaman Trunk Road,
hundreds of vehicles travel through every day, their guides treating the Jarawa like human safari attractions. This has led Activists trying to protect the native people
of the Andaman Islands to express concerns about
North Sentinel Island. Local operators have
even started to organize the Ultimate Human Safari,
carrying people to the shores of North Sentinel Island in
armored, protected boats. Survival International, a group dedicated to tribal people's
rights around the world, is working to end the human
safaris in the Andaman Islands, and protect both the Jarawa
and Sentinelese people. On the issue, a spokesperson
for the organization, Miriam Ross has said,
we continue to emphasize that there should be no further attempts to contact the Sentinelese,
urging the administration of the Andaman Islands to
adhere to this by putting a stop to poaching around the island which led to the deaths
of two fishermen in 2006. She adds it is vital to let
the Sentinelese live in peace, pointing out that further contact with outsiders could be
disastrous for both parties. While contact with the
tribe is clearly unwise, people remain curious about the tribe. It's possible we could learn
more about human history from studying such a long
secluded group of people. Since visiting the island is out, much of what is known was
gathered from the observations of helicopter pilots who flew over it. This is disruptive to the
native people, however, and results in arrows being
lobbed at the choppers. With the advent of modern technology, some experts have considered sending in small drones to study the Sentinelese. This would avoid many of the problems of further human contact with the people, but would still present ethical problems, as it might constitute a
violation of the tribe's privacy. Some people wonder if the
Sentinelese could benefit from modern advancements like
medicine and agriculture. But anthropologist, Sita Venkateswar, says these kinds of
seemingly benevolent contacts with primitive tribes often
do more harm than good. She notes the Jarawa,
who first made contact with outsiders in 1997, suffered
many problems as a result. What it did was open up a world that they didn't comprehend, she says, adding the tribal members were not yet in a position to control
their own destiny. Some started using alcohol
and tobacco products, and they ended up having
a very stratified, uneven relationship with
people of the modern world. Despite the level of interest
this uncontacted tribe holds, it may be in everyone's best interest to leave the Sentinelese people alone on the most dangerous island in the world. Do you think we should be visiting them, or should we just leave them in peace? Let me know in the comment
section down below. Also, if you enjoyed this
video please leave it a like and subscribe, clicking that bell icon to never miss a new video. Thanks for watching. (peaceful music)
