People of the Sentinelese tribe

The people of the Sentinelese tribe are an interesting group, located on the North Sentinel Island, they are highly isolated and remain free from the outside world. They have been known to shoot down outsiders with their bows and arrows and have a small population estimated to be between 50-200. Though their numbers may be small, they have a fierce reputation that has been proven again and again with the numerous records of people washing up on the island shores that were met with the sharp blades of the Sentinelese people.

They speak an unknown language that overlaps with the Onge language but due to the few amounts of contact with them, their language is unknown to outsiders.

In the 1980, the Indian authorities decided to try to pacify the tribe by so called “gift-dropping” where team members would cruise near the island shores throwing down things such as toys, coconuts and bananas so that tribe members could retrieve them. This method had outstanding results as in 1991, a group of Sentinelese people were found waiting unarmed at the water's shore to greet the outsiders and collect the goods. But the program was soon stopped when other tribes that were undergoing the same thing had gotten infected with modern diseases that they had not been exposed to before, these diseases wreaked havoc on the tribes, killing off many tribe members. Wanting to avoid such a disaster, the Indian authorities immediately stopped the gift dropping overtures.

It is unknown why the tribe is so hostile to outsiders, some speculate that it is due to historical encounters such as in the 1800s when the British tried to colonize the tribe which led to violence, the negative experiences may have caused them to become more suspicious of outsiders. Others think that they instinctively avoid and fear outsiders. Either way, we probably wouldn't know why the tribe is so hostile but all in all, they are an interesting group as they are one of the last uncontacted tribes.

Clare Chong

1 Justice

2025