Random Thing We Know About The World's Most Isolated Tribe (12 items)

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  (#7) Their Language Is Shrouded In Mystery

  Unlike other Andaman Islanders, the Sentinelese people keep their language private. Even natives from the nearby islands are unfamiliar with the isolated tribe's tongue. One Andaman police chief, Dharmendra Kumar, noted that it would be impossible to communicate with his neighbors. He says, "There are the language barriers; nobody speaks the Sentinelese language."
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  (#3) The Sentinelese People Briefly Trusted One Anthropologist

  The Sentinelese people do not attack all visitors. When anthropologist T. N. Pandit and his team approached the natives in the early 1990s, tribe members dropped their weapons. Pandit had tried to make contact without success on previous occasions, but this time, the Sentinelese were welcoming.

  The anthropologist brought coconuts and other offerings. He noted: 

  They must have come to a decision that the time had come. It could not have happened on the spur of the moment. There was this feeling of sadness also - I did feel it. And there was the feeling that at a larger scale of human history, these people who were holding back, holding on, ultimately had to yield. It’s like an era in history gone. The islands have gone. Until the other day, the Sentinelese were holding the flag, unknown to themselves. They were being heroes. But they have also given up.

  After that visit, though, the natives never welcomed another outsider.
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  (#6) The Sentinelese People Have Been Around A Long Time

  The Sentinelese inhabit one of the most remote places on Earth. Their home, North Sentinel Island, is part of an Indian archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. Many of these islands are beautifully idyllic, but indigenous people call them home. Anthropologists believe the Sentinelese people have lived on the island for more than 60,000 years with virtually no contact from the outside world.

  Reportedly, their lives haven't changed much in all that time.
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  (#11) The Sentinelese Way Of Life Hasn't Changed Much

  While not much is known about the Sentinelese people, experts do know they hunt and gather. Reportedly, the natives eat raw meat and fish - they have yet to learn how to make fire. Instead, the tribe waits for lightning to strike, keeping the flame alight for as long as possible.

  The people know nothing of agriculture, nor do they write. Reports claim the Sentinelese can count items of two or less, but they describe anything above that as "many." There are only a few kinds of shelter on the island - large huts for several families and temporary beach dwellings that hold one nuclear family.

  While this tribe lives as it did several thousand years ago, there have been some advancements. They use metal that has washed up on shore to sharpen and accompany their weaponry. 
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  (#2) 19th-Century British Explorers Kidnapped Sentinelese People

  In January 1880, British explorers landed on North Sentinel Island to conduct a survey of the area and kidnap natives. However, they only found abandoned villages. After searching for days, the expedition party, led by 20-year-old Maurice Vidal Portman, finally encountered six Sentinelese people. They abducted all of them and sailed for Port Blair. Two elderly natives died in British custody; the four captive children survived. Eventually, the young adventurer returned the youths to the island with gifts. Portman decided exploration of the island was ill-advisable. He admitted: 

  In many ways [the Sentinelese people] closely resemble the average lower-class English country schoolboy... [but] their association with outsiders has brought them nothing but harm, and it is a matter of great regret to me that such a pleasant race [is] so rapidly becoming extinct. We could better spare many another.
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  (#12) Poachers Prove The Reserve Is Easily Trespassed, Which Could Prove Dangerous To The Sentinelese

  In 2017, two poachers were caught hunting sea turtles on the illegal-to-outsiders tribal reserve. Reportedly, one had been intercepted nine times engaging in similar illegal activities, but was released on bail. Poaching on the reserve is unlawful and punishable by mandatory fines and jail time; however, human rights group Survival International points to repeated instances of trespassing as evidence that Andaman authorities are not doing enough to protect the highly susceptible people.

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