But the Sentinelese have good reason to distrust outsiders. Many journalists and commentators have interpreted the slaying of Chau as the work of an aggressive and xenophobic culture. Contemporary Pacific scholars can help us see the North Sentinelese in a clearer light. After all, the same sort of misconceptions were once aimed at the indigenous peoples of our region. Here in the South Pacific, we’re in a good position to lance these myths. Journalists and commentators around the world have been busy explaining that the island is part of the Andamans archipelago, that its inhabitants are hostile to all interlopers, and that the Indian government, which has administered the Andamans since the British departed in 1947, has forbidden all contact with them.īut there are three myths about the North Sentinelese that have been regurgitated, in article after article. The recent death of John Chau has made North Sentinel Island famous. The heathens buried him in the beach where he had hailed them. His third visit to the island was his last. Twice the missionary retreated to a ship beyond the island’s reef. The missionary greeted them in English they replied with arrows. Men emerged from trees at the edge of the beach. A young man landed on a small island, with a Bible in his hand. The recent killing of an American by a North Sentinel tribe has put the isolated island on the map. But there are three myths about the North Sentinelese that have been regurgitated in media.
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