North Sentinel Island is a small island in the Bay of Bengal. It consists of 72 km2 of dense tropical forest surrounded on all sides by a coral reef. It is part of the Andaman Island chain—a group of islands held by India. North Sentinel Island’s legal status is complicated but general consensus holds that it is a sovereign entity under Indian protection. Although North Sentinel Island is inhabited by humans, we only know a handful of things about the Sentinelese because their contact with the modern world has been extremely minimal. The indigenous people do not like outsiders and they have never talked or otherwise communicated with anyone from the modern world. So far the only way they have interacted with visitors is by shooting arrows at them (and once by copulating en masse in front a shocked ethnographic expedition which had become stranded on the reef flats).
Agriculture is completely unknown on North Sentinel Island. The Sentinelese are hunter-gatherers, subsisting on fruits, seeds, tubers, fish, shellfish, honey, feral pigs, and the eggs of turtles and seabirds. The inhabitants go naked except during hunting expeditions when they wear belts/loincloths. The language, religion, and customs of the Sentinelese are unknown (although they are presumed to speak a language in the Andamanese family).
The tips of their weapons are steel and iron which have been scavenged and shaped through cold-smithing (in the late 1980s two international container ships ran aground on the island’s external coral reefs). The islanders manufacture baskets, pounding stones, nets, and adzes. They also build canoes–however they have not been known to venture beyond the reefs of their island.
For a time the outside world attempted to initiate contact with the Sentinelese by presenting gifts such as coconuts, buckets, dolls, pigs and metal pots before (quickly!) retreating to a distance out of arrowshot. The pigs and dolls were shot and buried. The pots and coconuts were eagerly accepted. The Sentinelese took the red buckets but left the green ones behind. Despite these overtures, the Sentinelese maintained their skepticism towards visitors (“skepticism” in this context means “aggressively shooting arrows at”), and such attempts to communicate have since been curtailed. In 2006 the islanders killed two trespassers who were poaching fish from the island reef and these bodies have not been recovered. That incident marks the last time anyone had any dealings with the islanders. The modern world seems content to leave the inhabitants of North Sentinel Island alone and that seems to be exactly what they want.
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June 24, 2010 at 4:41 PM
Rachel
I wonder how long they’ve been genetically isolated from the rest of the Andaman islands. Any satellite footage of how the tsunami affected them?
June 24, 2010 at 5:49 PM
Hieronymo
The Island’s reefs were badly damaged by the tsunami. To quote the Eropean Space Agency from their website:
“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…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.”
The ESA hints at an answer to your first question as well, stating “DNA analysis of related Andaman tribesmen suggests that the Sentinelese are among the world’s oldest communities, with generations going back 70 000 years.” I don’t think anyone knows when the last intra-Andaman mixing occurred though.
June 25, 2010 at 9:43 PM
Rachel
North Sentinel is pretty close to being the size of Manhattan (72 square km vs 87 square km). Mind blowing, huh?
August 19, 2012 at 10:41 AM
US_Giant
I think somebody has to go over there and civilize those savages . It seems they like it the hard way, so we`ll give`em hell.
August 20, 2012 at 8:50 AM
no
Oh, shut up.
August 26, 2012 at 8:35 AM
Docsullivan
That’s pure ignorance
August 30, 2012 at 12:24 PM
NeoV
I think somebody has to go over there and civilize you.
March 11, 2013 at 8:25 PM
James
Fucking typical yank.
March 11, 2013 at 11:28 PM
Wayne
Well now, I think everyone is getting a bit worked up….Indonesia has tried to reach out to its Bronze age citizens in Irian Jaya, but India is leaving the North Sentinelese alone–a choice which both India & the North Sentinelese seem happy with.
June 27, 2020 at 1:42 PM
Haynes
Sounds like it would make an exciting time share opportunity for money-hungry investors. Hah!
July 1, 2020 at 10:24 AM
Wayne
Don’t even mention them aloud lest they descend from their mirrorglass towers and take the last bits of everything…
July 2, 2020 at 4:49 AM
Haynes Berk
You are right. The Wall Street carnivores would strip the place and put in luxury condos to replace the grass huts. Natives, those who survive, would be used as housekeeping and grounds’ workers.
January 21, 2013 at 1:47 PM
JustSayin
If you think the US government doesn’t have complete details on this tribe you are naive. They just don’t tell us about it. They probably ave plenty of cool drone footage they could show us without disturbing the people.
January 21, 2013 at 7:25 PM
Wayne
I suspect Uncle Sam’s drones are busy elsewhere and are not teasing out the linguistic and cultural details of life on North Sentinel Island (not until the inhabitants have weapons better than bows and arrows, at least). But, you’re right that the modern world does have increasingly sophisticated reconnaissance equipment.
May 15, 2013 at 2:17 PM
MissyMonday
Unfortunately, the islands canopy prevents in-depth aerial footage and the Indian Government maintains a three-mile exclusion zone around the island.
April 29, 2013 at 8:14 AM
Andy
Why can’t we build a theme park and give the natives jobs working the roller coaster? The kids can work the booths in the parking lot, while the elders can help squeeze the fat Americans into the ride harnesses.
May 2, 2013 at 4:43 PM
Wayne
The inhabitants of North Sentinel Island are not grumpy and dangerous enough to be carnies!
December 19, 2019 at 6:37 AM
Haynes Berk
Andy, that is hilarious. However, the Sentinelese say they are certainly open to your idea.
July 16, 2013 at 4:41 PM
Liz
HAHA! Andy, you are priceless!
November 6, 2013 at 9:00 PM
Capt. Robert Fore
For visitors to your website, my name is Capt. Robert Fore. I found this page while researching North Sentinel website postings. I am the pilot that flew the air/sea rescue operation to save the crew of the Primrose in August of 1981. For any or your readers that may be interested, the rescue operation with accompanying photos of the rescue operation can be found at:
http://www.eternalidol.com/?cat=45
We have been making efforts to bring even more information to light about the rescue of the Primrose crew, and any new information concerning the island and its inhabitants.
November 7, 2013 at 1:31 PM
Wayne
Wow, thanks Captain! That is some story…and those are amazing pictures of the mysterious island and its reefs. I will definitely be checking back to see what else you post.