Sentinelese Tribe is also called the "Sentineli" or "North Sentinel Islanders" are the native people of North Sentinel Island in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago of India. Sentineleses are amongst different tribal communities who have settled down in the beautiful coastal islands of Andaman and Nicobar.
Sentinelese tribe have concentrated in North Sentinel Island of Andaman and Nicobar, completely detached from the happening of the outside world of modernity. Till date, the Sentinelese tribe is one of the most secluded tribal people in the whole world who have maintained their cultural and social heritage intact from the influences of the modern day trends.
History of Sentinelese Tribe
The Sentinelese Tribe is believed to have lived on their island home for 60,000 years. In 1879, an aged couple and children were taken by force to Sentinel Island. The colonial officer in charge of the kidnapping wrote that the whole group, "sickened fast, and the old man and his wife died, so the four children were sent back to their home with quantities of presents."
In 1967, the Indian government begun making efforts to contact the Sentinelese, led by anthropologist T. N. Pandit, who would leave the tribe gifts and try to signal to them. Two fishermen were murdered by the Sentinelese in 2006 for drawing too close, and they have been known to fire arrows and fling rocks at low-flying planes or helicopters on investigation missions.
Features of Sentinelese Tribe
Sentinelese people are often described as "negritos", a term which has been applied to a variety of widely separated people in Southeast Asia. Like so many isolated tribal people with a frightening reputation, the Sentinelese is often incorrectly described as "savage" or "backward". They`ve by no means developed agriculture, they still practice hunting and gathering, like all humans did proceeding to the development of agriculture about 10,000 years ago. There`s been little contact with the Sentinelese people.
Culture of Sentinelese Tribe
Sentinelese material culture is based on inspections in contact attempts in the late 20th century. The Sentinelese keeps up a fundamentally hunter-gatherer society, finding their survival through hunting, fishing, and collecting wild plants. There is no proof of any agricultural practices. Their houses are shelter-type huts with no side walls and a floor sometimes lay out with palms and leaves. Sentinelese wears no clothes.
Their weapons consist of javelins, a harpoon and a sort of flat bow. Known tools of Sentinelese Tribe include adzes, pounding and smiting stones, and a range of finely or roughly woven baskets for small-grained or larger goods, as well as bamboo and wooden containers. Food consists mainly of plants collected in the forest, coconuts, which are normally found on the beaches as flotsam, pigs, and other wildlife.
Present Status of Sentinelese Tribe
Sentinelese Tribe is lawfully a part of, and administered by, the Indian Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. They exercise complete power over their affairs and the connection of the Indian authorities is limited to rare monitoring, ever more occasional and short visits.