In this article we are going to discover the great and interesting mysteries that this paradisiacal and remote place hides, since it has recently monopolized all the news portals due to the bizarre event that has taken place there.
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What is the North Sentinel Island
Located in the Indian Ocean and administered by the government of India, is an island of no more than 72 square kilometers with a width of about 8 kilometers, belonging to the Andaman archipelago, as we have mentioned.
Enlarged map of North Sentinel Island and its location on the globe. | Google Maps.
Although the government of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has declared that they have no intention of interfering with the lifestyle of the aboriginal people, it is the Indian government that strictly prohibits anyone, especially uninformed tourists, from setting foot on North Sentinel Island due to danger of death
But, not only this. The truth is that India sentences from 2017 up to 3 years in prison to anyone who has contact or even tries to take pictures of the Sentinel aborigines.
The Sentinelese Tribe
What else do we know about these inhabitants called Sentinelese
? What are their customs
? How have they survived for so long isolated from other civilizations ? Let’s
not fool ourselves, the North Sentinel Island is especially famous for hosting this tribe that is very particular and dangerous, descended from the Jarawa or the Aeta, although it is not known for sure.
What is very likely is that these black aborigines historically come from Africa . It is estimated that they arrived on the island 60,000 years ago. They are usually considered by anthropologists as a culture with a strong predominance of warlike customs and violence.
It is also known that they do not dominate fire and usually kill visitors as soon as they set foot on the island, which is why it is very difficult to study them without resorting to invasive methods that destroy their culture and harmony. In addition , it is estimated that between 50 and 150 members of the tribe live . Below we are going to analyze some of the most significant altercations of recent years.
North Sentinel Map
It is estimated that its geography allowed the inhabitants of the island to survive the Tsunami that a decade ago desolated only large areas of the world, since at its highest point it can reach up to 100 meters above sea level. from sea. Below we can see a map of North Sentinel Island.
North Sentinel Island Map | Wikipedia
The Forbidden Island, why?
It is not surprising that access to the island is prohibited. There are not a few altercations that the Sentinelese have had with the visitors who have ventured to step on the sand of the coasts (since normally few have time to go further.
Marco Polo, back in the 13th century, verified and described the tribe of the Northern Sentinel as cruel and violent .
Sentinelese fishing near the shore of the island. | File.
Another much more recent event is when in 2004, the Sentinelese attacked with arrows an Indian government helicopter that was working on the investigation of the devastating effects of the Indonesian tsunami, fearing that the tribe had succumbed to the catastrophe, which obviously was not the case.
Two years later, in 2006, two fishermen made the mistake of getting too close to the North Sentinel . In this case, the poachers were spending the night near the island and were intercepted by the Sentinelese. They had no mercy with them.
The death of John Allen Chau
Much more recently, in 2018, a 27-year-old Christian missionary from Alabama (United States), famous for his Instagram posts and his self-perception comparable to that of a messiah, set himself the challenge of spread the word of God by North Sentinel. The thing ended in tragedy.
In the following image we can see the happy John Allen Chau heading towards Sentinel del Norte to spread his Christian ideas among the Sentinelese. In addition, John Allen was a born explorer, or so he defined himself, which made him spend much of his life traveling through isolated areas .
John Allen approaching North Sentinel Island. | Instagram
This has been without a doubt the most famous artercado of all those that have occurred with North Sentinel Island, probably thanks to the spread of social networks that lacked the same power as 10 or 15 years ago. This was one of the last images that he uploaded to his Instagram account of him as he approached the island.
Near North Sentinel Island | Instagram
According to the information offered by the fishermen who took the young American to the island, the attack that the young man received was by means of bows and arrows , they also ended up surrounding his neck with a rope and dragging him, after which the fishermen fled.
After his death, the Sentinelese took the lifeless body to the shore of the beach , although according to the Hindustan Times, the body has not been recovered.
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