The Andaman Islands are an ethnic and genetic treasure. The people of these islands seem close to the first humans who migrated out of AFRICA PERHAPS 70.000 YEARS AGO. Because the Island lie isolated offshore between India and Thailand, they have remained pretty much settled only by the natives, perhaps truly the first true indigenous humans. Now under India, an effort has been made to protect the Andamanese culture from the predations of more “modern” societies. Now …
John Allen Chau felt he was called by Jesus to bring the gospel to the uncontacted people. Perhaps his God had a different idea.
(Abstracted from The Sun) The tribe reportedly shot the U.S. citizen with arrows when he arrived on the shore.
Chau was illegally ferried there. Because contact with the tribe is forbidden John’s killers cannot be prosecuted.
The local Director General of Police Dependra Pathak said “His body has not yet been retrieved because we have to strategise keeping in mind the nuances and sensitivity of other cultures. We are working on that, and are in contact with anthropologists and tribal welfare experts.”
“We will figure out some strategy.”
A spokeswoman for the United States consulate in India’s southern city of Chennai said in an email: “We are aware of reports concerning a U.S. citizen in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The small forested island of North Sentinel, which is a similar size to Manhattan, is even off limits to the Indian navy in a bid to protect the tribe of about 150 from being wiped out by disease.
The tribe got international attention after the 2004 tsunami, when a member of the tribe was pictured on a beach, firing arrows at a helicopter inspecting their welfare.
In 2006, two Indian fishermen, who had moored their boat near the island to sleep after fishing near there, were killed when their boat broke loose and drifted onto the shore.
Campaigns by non-profit and local organisations have led the Indian government to abandon plans to contact the Sentinelese.
Survival International, an organisation that campaigns for the rights of tribal people, works to ensure that no further attempts are made to contact the tribe.
“When a U.S. citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts,” she added, but declined to provide further details over privacy concerns.
He’s either a martyr or a fool.