How did the islanders know about the world out side
Answers
Answer:
On the North Sentinel Island, a part of the Andamans exists one of the world’s greatest mysteries– the Sentinelese tribe.
While the rest of the world has seemingly moved into what can be termed as a modern civilisation, they are truly one of the last tribes of the world to live as primitive humans did, due in large part to their hostile, often violent, behaviour towards anyone who approaches the North Sentinel Island.The island itself is one of the last remaining unchartered territories in the world! As such, what is known about the island and its inhabitants arises from observations made at a safe distance, usually restricted to the thin strip of the visible beach. The sporadic encounters with the tribe, more often than not, have been unsuccessful.
Described as “arguably some of the most enigmatic people on our planet,” in a report by The Seattle Times, the Sentinelese are believed to have inhabited the island for over 60,000 years!
From what researchers have been able to decipher, the people survive on hunting, gathering, and fishing, and live in dwellings made of palm leaves. They also seem to have some access to cold-smithing techniques indicated by their array of weapons, such as harpoons, arrows, bows, and spears, which they have fashioned themselves.
You may also like: 20 Fascinating Facts About Andaman And Nicobar Islands We Bet You Didn’t Know
While they wear no clothes, they do adorn their bodies with leaves, and wreaths fashioned out of plants. Their relatively short stature, dark skin, and peppercorn hair all suggest that they may have migrated from the African subcontinent centuries ago.
For a long time, they lived their lives seemingly undisturbed, partly due to baseless rumours that they were cannibals—until British invaders entered their territory in January 1880. Led by colonial administrator Maurice Vidal Portman, the invaders searched high and low for traces of the tribe. Eventually, they came across an elderly couple and four children. As per the British practice, to establish ‘friendliness,’ they kidnapped the family and took them to Port Blair. The parents soon passed away, possibly contracting diseases to which their body was not immune, but the children were loaded with gifts and returned to the island, where they quickly disappeared into the forest.
They were left alone after that, as the British turned their attention to the other tribes in the vicinity.
Explanation:
The first “contact” expedition, as it came to be known, was a failure—the tribe retreated into the jungle, and the party failed to engage with any of them. In the following expeditions, the Indian Navy vessel would anchor far from the island, and small boats would be sent up until a safe distance, where the party would then drop gifts into the water, to wash up on shore.
They would wait, sometimes for hours, to see if their gifts were accepted. Photographic evidence shows that on some occasions, the party was able to convince the tribe to leave their weapons behind and accept the gifts, but this would be short-lived, and soon, the party would be forced off the island with the threat of weapons and loud cries in a language which no one could understand.
Pandit and his team weren’t the only ones who tried. In 1974, a National Geographic team intent upon shooting a documentary about the Sentinelese tried to approach the island, bearing gifts, which included coconuts, aluminium cookware, miniature toys, and a live pig. Instead of a warm welcome, they were greeted with a shower of arrows, one of which pierced the director in the leg.