Sentinel Island

A fascinating tale from the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal (between India and SE Asia). The story came about after the killing by islanders on one of these outliers (30 miles from Thailand) of an American student on a mission to make contact with them. Clearly they are opposed to contact with the outside world and over the last few hundred years they have managed to keep the outside world at bay – see https://phys.org/print462083501.html … where we are told these folk still use spears and 'bow and arrows' to hunt animals and live in thickly forested habitat, so much so the Indian authorities have no idea how many tribesmen live there. They gather plants to eat and make their homes and live a more or less stone age existence. Most importantly, they have learned to be deeply suspicious of outsiders – over the years. The same thing happens in remote parts of Amazonia – forest dwelling tribes steering clear of the modern world, in fear it will overturn their way of life – and their very existence.