Sentinel Island's 'peace-loving' tribe had centuries of reasons to fear missionary
Sentinel Island's 'peace-loving’ tribe had centuries of reasons to fear missionary
Michael Safi in Delhi
@safimichael
Fri 30 Nov 2018 07.29 EST First published on Fri 30 Nov 2018 06.50 EST
From the exiled king of Belgium to the Primrose freighter in 1981, outsiders have regretted contact with the Sentinelese – as have the islanders themselves
Michael Safi in Delhi
@safimichael
Fri 30 Nov 2018 07.29 EST First published on Fri 30 Nov 2018 06.50 EST
In 1981, a freighter called the Primrose ran aground on a coral reef in the Bay of Bengal. Winds were high and the surf around the hapless vessel was heaving. The rough conditions probably saved the lives of the 28 crew aboard.
After a few days stuck in the reef, a watchman reported seeing a group emerge from the jungle on the island a few hundred metres away. The sailor’s relief at the sight of a possible rescue party ebbed as the men came into view: nearly naked, carrying spears and bows and arrows that they waved in the direction of the ship.
“Wild men, estimate more than 50, carrying various homemade weapons, are making two or three wooden boats,” the Primrose’s captain radioed to his headquarters in Hong Kong. “Worrying they will board us at sunset. All crew members’ lives not guaranteed.”
The same tribe killed American missionary John Allen Chau on 17 November. The crew of the Primrose survived. The surging swell repelled the tribespeople’s boats, while the strong winds kept blowing their arrows off the mark, according to an account by the author and historian Adam Goodheart. After three terrifying days – the crew keeping vigil with pipes, flares and other makeshift weapons – an Indian navy boat winched the stranded sailors to safety. The Primrose still lies where it ran aground 37 years ago.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/nov/30/sentinelese-tribe-who-killed-american-are-peace-loving-say-anthropologists
