Short Stuff: North Sentinel Island | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. Hey and welcome to the short stuff. Josh. here. Chuck here. That's it. And this is. short stuff. Yeah. I I kept thinking we. had covered this, but I don't think we. covered it this specifically. >> Uh and what made me think of this was. the other day I saw a video um that was. a drone flying over uh North Sentinel. Island. >> Uh yeah. and these, you know, this. unconted uh tribe looking up obviously.

and they were pretty high up. They. weren't buzzing them. I will say that. >> But I was also like and and I was. heartened to find the Instagram comments. were mainly like please leave them. alone. >> Yeah. >> Uh largely. But North Sentinel Island is. part of a larger island chain uh called. the Andaman and Nikobar Islands. >> uh in the Bay of Bengal about 700 miles. off of India. And it is noteworthy. because uh anywhere between 50 and 500. of these uh sent Sentinel people um live.

there completely uncontacted even though. they're like maybe 20 miles away from. islands that are have incorporated some. modern spoils. >> Yeah. And they live essentially in the. same manner as Neolithic hunter. gatherers. They're they're don't wear. clothes. They're they walk around naked. as the day they were born. They spear. fish. They use dugout canoes uh that. aren't particularly seaorthy. Um and. they don't like visitors at all. Essentially, there's been one one um.

event of contact with them that you. could even remotely consider peaceful. I. guess it would definitely be a peace. Yeah. Yeah. But every other contact with. them is either been repelled by a volley. of arrows or has resulted in the. person's death. I should say andor. resulted in the person's death from that. volley of arrows. And that's why like. those Instagram comments were saying. like leave these people alone. They've. clearly told the modern world leave us. alone.

>> Yeah. In other words, these people are. your heroes. >> Yeah. Kind of naked. The naked part. especially. >> Yeah. Really think a lot a lot of these. folks. I got to get me a bow and arrow. >> Uh in the 18th century is when they were. first discovered. uh with Dutch, Austrian, and British merchant ships. looking for better trade routes. And uh. the first European settlers arrived. there in the 1850s when Britain built a. penal colony on an island about 30 miles.

from North Sentinel Island. And kind of. not too long after that, I guess it was. about uh 40 years or so, there was a. prisoner who tried to escape on a raft. uh from that penal colony, washed up on. shore of North Sentinel, and they found. him, you know, dead by arrow or arrows, rather. >> Yes. And that um confirmed those. sightings from the 1770s that there were. definitely people living on this island. Uh you don't like there's no natural. arrows that you can fall on top of. Um,

that's just how it goes. I'm sorry. I. don't make. >> a sword. Everyone knows that. You don't. fall on an arrow, >> right? But even still, if you do fall on. an arrow, somebody made that arrow. So, it it definitely suggested human in in. uh human habitation of the island. And. it also showed Yeah. they probably don't. want people showing up even accidentally. like that prisoner did. >> Yeah, for sure. Uh yeah, he he was like, "Ah, I got out of there. I washed up on. this island." Amazing. Yeah.

>> Oh, that's a really good arrow sound. >> Message for you, sir. Uh, in 1967, the. Anthropological Survey of India sent a. team of 20 people uh to try and make. peaceful contact with them. Uh, and you. know, they they were well known at this. point for like any ship that comes by, they're going to get arrowed at at least. uh as a warning. you know, probably not. killing anyone from the shore to a ship, but that message again saying, "Please. don't come here.". >> Mhm.

>> And they went ashore and they basically. had gone into hiding. They saw their. huts. They saw that they had fires going. and abandoned their meals. I am quite. sure that they were, you know, the. Sentinel were sitting there watching. them from wherever they had perched. >> Sure. >> Uh kind of going through their stuff. Uh. and so they left them some gifts. They. left them coconuts because they didn't. have coconuts. They left them iron rods. and. sporks. >> Yeah. Plastic utensils, which is so.

bizarre. >> Yeah. I didn't get that part. >> It's like, "Hey, why don't you learn how. to litter? That'll make you modern.". >> Yeah. Like, is this the best thing we. can offer you that you haven't seen yet? >> Uh, you mentioned that they had fires. going. And I read somewhere that they. are thought to not actually know how to. make fire and that they keep embers. tended from lightning strikes or fires. created naturally from lightning. strikes. >> Quest for fire. Remember that one? >> Yeah, that was a good one. >> Should we take a break? >> Yeah. And let's go watch Quest for Fire. >> All right, I'll be right back.

[Music]. [Music]. Rayon Chong. >> Yeah. And uh what was the guy's name? >> Oh. Uh. >> Mhm. >> Yeah. The guy.

>> Sunny Bono, >> wasn't it? Uh Quest for Fire. What's his. face? Uh the. >> Hellboy. >> Hellboy. Yeah. Ron Livingston. >> No. Ron. >> Oh, I can't think. People are screaming. at us right now. He's a feisty guy. >> How? Like in real life? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> He was great in Drive. You remember that. movie? >> Uh, yeah. I love Drive. >> Great movie. I think I've told you. before I did a double feature of Drive. and Neon Demon and my brain was just.

melting. >> Wow. Ron Pearlman, everybody. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Ria Pearlman. >> Oh, I wonder if they're related. >> Maybe they look very similar. All right. So, uh, where did we leave. off? They came back after their their. one semisuccessful, um, you know, offering of coconuts and. things like that. >> And in the early 1990s, uh, they said, "Hey, let's take another stab at this.". And let's bring a woman this time. Which.

turned out to be a really good idea, it. seems like. >> Yeah. Because this was the one encounter. that you could truly call peaceful. Um. because they actually did encounter the. Sentinel this time and it totally makes. sense that the presence of a woman would. have made it a peaceful encounter. because I could see that if the Sentinel. followed typical patriarchal structures. >> they don't take women on raiding. parties. So the presence of a woman. would suggest that this wasn't a raiding. party and they let their guard down for. one reason or another. I think that's.

the likeliest reason. They let their. guard down and the way that the. anthropological society got them to to. basically interact with them was to. float coconuts to them from the boat. Uh, and I guess from that first gift of. coconuts in the 60s, um, the Sentinel. were very happy to see those things. again. >> Oh man, like it's been decades. You you. teased us with with coconuts. These. things are amazing. >> My grandfather told me about these. >> Yeah, basically. Uh, so they did not. fire any arrows. They floated the.

coconuts. Uh some of the Sentinel came. into the water, collected those things. up and they waited out to the boat, even. examined the boat and allowed some of. the outsiders even to walk around on the. beach and interact with the women, teenagers and children who they brought. out, which was I mean this was a a. rousing success that just should have. stopped there. >> Yeah, it should have. I guess um it. Well, it kind of did, didn't it? I mean. that after that after that India passed. a law that said no one can contact the.

Sentinel. >> as far as the official Indian government. goes but that didn't stop a certain. someone from going. >> No. Oh actually no it didn't. Um in 2006. some fishermen from Myanmar had to make. an emergency landing and they were. killed. Their bodies were buried in the. sand of North Sentinel Island. Um but. the more famous death on North Sentinel. Island came much more recently. I think. it was in 2018 that a 26-year-old. missionary and adventurer named John.

Allen Chow uh died um from arrow wounds. on North Sentinel Island. And this was. not the first time he showed up on North. Sentinel Island. >> No, he uh was trying to spread the word. of God. Um he was chronicling all of. this in his diary and he knew what he. was in for. He, you know, to his credit, he got all the vaccinations to make sure. that he didn't get them sick and stuff. like that. Uh, and he brought dental. force apparently in case he got arrowed. because he knew that was a possibility.

>> Uh, he made a few different, um, trips. He had this, you know, local fisherman. kind of take him out and back. Um, the. first time he waited up, he brought a. fish as a gift and said, "My name is. John. I love you and Jesus loves you.". And it was arrows. Uh, they did not get. him. Um, he came back. Uh they arrowed. at him again, did not get him again, and. I guess fool me twice wasn't in John. Allen Child's repertoire because he came.

back a third time and uh was arrowed for. good. >> Yeah. The uh fisherman he bribed to take. him out there. Um and bribed is the word. because they were knowingly breaking the. law by helping him contact the North. Sentinel. Um they reported that they saw. his body being dragged along the sand by. the Sentinel and that they buried it. Um. and. >> they buried all these guys. >> Yeah. Which I find interesting because. >> it's respect, you know. >> Yeah. Um, but John Ellen Chow's uh.

remains are still there today, as are. the two fishermen who had to make an. emergency landing, the fishermen from. Myanmar, because part of not contacting. the Sentinel is not raiding North. Sentinel Island, trying to bring the. people who killed those guys to justice. andor even recover the remains. So, they're there for who knows how long, >> probably for good. Uh, I also failed to. mention that in his second of the three. trips when he was arrowed at, uh, and I.

believe this was in his diaries, um, >> a young boy actually, uh, shot an arrow. through his waterproof Bible that he was. holding up. >> Mhm. >> And if that sort of symbolic message. wasn't enough to keep him away, then. nothing would happen. >> No. Yeah. Because he came back. But. yeah, he's on one side, especially among. evangelicals, he's viewed as literally a. martyr. >> Yeah. on other sides, probably people on. Instagram, he's viewed as um an. interloper who should not have been. where he was essentially.

>> Yeah. And of course, I don't think any. loss of life like that is uh okay. Um. but I just think people should heed the. warnings like they don't want to be. contacted. So just don't contact them. >> Leave the North Sentinel alone. >> Yeah. >> Short stuff is out. Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart. Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your.

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