In a century-long summit where technology is expanding at an unprecedented pace and people are worrying about the possibility of nuclear war, it seems impossible to accept the fact that there is a place where people live in the Paleolithic era? What may seem strange to us is that the true truth of the Sentinelis tribe, a tribe sheltered in the Bay of Bengal on the island of North Sentinel, is that they have not only avoided any contact with the foreign world but stand as an advocate for their island if anyone comes to it.Ī thick forest-like umbrella that prevents the world from knowing or gathering any information about this tribe. It was 2 pm when the team returned.North Sentinel Island has many interesting facts to know about. With their stock of coconuts over, the team went back to the ship to replenish. Four hours rolled by, the contact party kept floating coconuts and the Sentinelese kept collecting them. No party made the first move to bridge the gap further. The women and children, however, maintained a distance and remained on the shore.Īn invisible wall stood between the islanders and the contact team. The team leader then instructed that more coconuts be dropped and this time the Sentinelese brought a canoe to collect the coconuts in cane baskets. The team started dropping coconuts in the water.Īfter a bit of trepidation, a few Sentinelese men came sprinting and waded through the shallow waters to collect the floating coconuts, she narrated. However, unlike in the past, this mission had one difference there was a women anthropologist in the contact team. Not much was expected, probably like many futile missions in the past, she narrated about the trip. On 4 January, 1991, MV Tarmugli, the Andaman Nicobar Administration ship, put down its anchor off Allen point on the southwest part of the North Sentinel Islands. The contact was successful and the team returned back successfully, she said.Ī native of Howrah in West Bengal, Madhumala had gone to the Sentinel island for a field research for her PhD fellowship to the Anthropological Survey of India. However, vigilant police personnel did not allow them to take the rifle with them. The Sentinelese wanted to take away the rifle for making their arrows, she recollected. But, this time, things started to mess up with the Sentinelese touching the police rifle brought by the cops for security. This time also Madhumala and her team were able to contact the tribe, reached the shore and gifted them coconuts. The second contact expedition started on 21st February1991.

When the gift brought by us finished, the team returned home, she recounted. By hearing these words, the Sentinelese seemed happy and immediately rushed to us to collect the coconuts. I told them Nariyali Gabha Gabha which means come and collect the coconuts. 'Having worked extensively with the indigenous tribes of A & N Islands, I knew the language of some of the local tribe like Jarawa and Onge.

Finding no danger, the team then approached them up to the coast and gifted coconut to them by hands. Our team started dropping coconut in the seashore, which the Sentinelese, consisting of few males and females collected. Then we boarded a small dingi and ventured neared to the shore.

We reached the spot on 4th January and saw some tribes near the seashores. Narrating her experience, she said a 12 member expedition team headed by then Tribal Welfare Director, S Awaradi had sailed for the Sentinel Island on 3rd January 1991. The woman anthropologist said that on two occasions, they could successfully contact the tribes but in the third occasion, due to inclement weather, the Sentinelese did not come to the seashore and the team had to back off. The last time the world heard about the Sentinel islanders was in 2006 when two fishermen were killed by the primitive natives after their boat had strayed towards the island. The Sentinelese people are among the tribes that survived the tsunami of 2004 without any help from the outside world. Information pouring in after the death of the American national revealed that very few trips had been made to the island, about 102 km from capital Port Blair, in the past.

North Sentinel island has been declared no go area by a law. Killing of a US national John Allen Chau, 27, last month in course of his illegal trip to the North Sentinel island, reignited peoples interest about the handful of aboriginals as per the 2011 census.

Woman north sentinel island people