jasonsnow
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Post by jasonsnow on Apr 2, 2018 18:00:26 GMT
If you look at a map of the Bay of Bengal, west of Myanmar in the Andaman Sea, you'll find a string of islands known as the Andaman Islands. These islands are home to around 340,000 people, and the territory's capital--Port Blair--is a heavily-populated urban center, completed with an international airport, a sea and Air Force base, and several factories and high-grade businesses. The Andaman Islands are Indian territory, under the jurisdiction of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory. These islands have been, for the most part, open to human colonization.
Notice that I mentioned "for the most part".
Among this string of islands, one can find the North Sentinel Island, a small, heavily-forested island some 50 km west of Port Blair. This 60-square-km island is the home of one of the most mysterious and enigmatic peoples on Earth: the Sentinelese people. This small group of people have lived on the island for thousands of years, uncontacted by the outside world even to this day. Very little is known about the Sentinelese. They are a hunter-gatherer, primitive people, who live a prehistoric lifestyle. The Sentinelese haven't discovered agriculture, instead relying on wild plants for food. They craft arrows and spears from sharp sticks and possibly fishing nets from the tissue of animals. They have yet to discover how to make fire: they wait until a lightning strikes the island and try to keep the embers glowing for as much as possible in order to cook foods and stay warm. Their prehistoric, primitive way of living has been the source of much interest for anthropologists, archeologists and sociologists alike.
Visits to North Sentinel Island are restricted by the Indian government, fearing an outside disease--for which the Sentinelese have no defenses--could wipe them out. However, incidents have occurred. A 1974 National Geographic expedition to the North Sentinel Island made for a documentary attempted to make contact with the Sentinelese, offering gifts. However, they were met with hostility and violence, as well as volleys of arrows. The disastrous expedition was called off, and the crew left, with the director being injured by arrow fire in the leg. In 2004, following the Indian Ocean tsunami, an Indian naval helicopter went to North Sentinel Island to check on the Sentinelese. The islanders appeared to survive the tsunami just fine, having reached high ground. In 2006, Sentinelese archers killed two fishermen who wandered too close to the island illegally fishing for mud crabs within the island's range.
The idea of an uncontacted, primitive people living less than fifty miles from a highly-urbanized city is something to think about. How would it be from them? How would they see their world, completely alone, perhaps even terrified, about those strange flying machines or those mysterious persons who sometimes reach their shores. Thinking about them makes us think about ourselves. The mystery of the North Sentinel Island is truly fascinating. Will we ever achieve contact with the Sentinelese? That is a question for perhaps, even, another generation.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 2, 2018 18:14:43 GMT
Among this string of islands, one can find the North Sentinel Island, a small, heavily-forested island some 50 km west of Port Blair. This 60-square-km island is the home of one of the most mysterious and enigmatic peoples on Earth: the Sentinelese people. This small group of people have lived on the island for thousands of years, uncontacted by the outside world even to this day. Very little is known about the Sentinelese. They are a hunter-gatherer, primitive people, who live a prehistoric lifestyle. The Sentinelese haven't discovered agriculture, instead relying on wild plants for food. They craft arrows and spears from sharp sticks and possibly fishing nets from the tissue of animals. They have yet to discover how to make fire: they wait until a lightning strikes the island and try to keep the embers glowing for as much as possible in order to cook foods and stay warm. Their prehistoric, primitive way of living has been the source of much interest for anthropologists, archeologists and sociologists alike. A nice, a people who always have fascinated me, but according to Wiki, their population what has been counted is declining. Meet The Mysterious And Uncontacted Residents Of North Sentinel Island |
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jasonsnow
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Post by jasonsnow on Apr 2, 2018 18:18:21 GMT
Among this string of islands, one can find the North Sentinel Island, a small, heavily-forested island some 50 km west of Port Blair. This 60-square-km island is the home of one of the most mysterious and enigmatic peoples on Earth: the Sentinelese people. This small group of people have lived on the island for thousands of years, uncontacted by the outside world even to this day. Very little is known about the Sentinelese. They are a hunter-gatherer, primitive people, who live a prehistoric lifestyle. The Sentinelese haven't discovered agriculture, instead relying on wild plants for food. They craft arrows and spears from sharp sticks and possibly fishing nets from the tissue of animals. They have yet to discover how to make fire: they wait until a lightning strikes the island and try to keep the embers glowing for as much as possible in order to cook foods and stay warm. Their prehistoric, primitive way of living has been the source of much interest for anthropologists, archeologists and sociologists alike. A nice, a people who always have fascinated me, but according to Wiki, their population what has been counted is declining. Meet The Mysterious And Uncontacted Residents Of North Sentinel IslandTheir numbers are wildly estimated, from 40 to 400. It is true, and that I also saw in Wikipedia, that they have slowly been declining. That makes sense, given how few there are, interbreeding must be the only mode of reproduction, resulting in health issues, which contribute to death. A fascinating group of people, nevertheless. |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 2, 2018 18:24:07 GMT
Their numbers are wildly estimated, from 40 to 400. It is true, and that I also saw in Wikipedia, that they have slowly been declining. That makes sense, given how few there are, interbreeding must be the only mode of reproduction, resulting in health issues, which contribute to death. A fascinating group of people, nevertheless. Also they seems not to like outsiders. |
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jasonsnow
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Post by jasonsnow on Apr 2, 2018 20:51:51 GMT
Their numbers are wildly estimated, from 40 to 400. It is true, and that I also saw in Wikipedia, that they have slowly been declining. That makes sense, given how few there are, interbreeding must be the only mode of reproduction, resulting in health issues, which contribute to death. A fascinating group of people, nevertheless. Also they seems not to like outsiders. They don't. The Sentinelese have been known to murder dozens of outsiders. Sociologists are unsure why is this, but imagine you're comfortable on your tiny islands--literally your entire universe--and then suddenly some beastly flying machine comes flying through the air, approaching your ancestral homeland. If you had a loaded bow in your hand, you wold use it. |
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jasonsnow
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Post by jasonsnow on Apr 2, 2018 20:55:00 GMT
An interesting thing is that a mishap may have kickstarted the Iron Age for them. Two container ships once came ashore the reefs of North Sentinel Island, and scout imagery has shown the Sentinelese have come aboard these abandoned ships to scavenge for resources and iron, used to tip their spears and arrows. Imagine if we dropped stuff like guns and ammo for them... We would instantly grant a 2,00-year technological leap for an entire civilization. Imagine that kind of godlike power, right in our hands.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 3, 2018 3:08:25 GMT
An interesting thing is that a mishap may have kickstarted the Iron Age for them. Two container ships once came ashore the reefs of North Sentinel Island, and scout imagery has shown the Sentinelese have come aboard these abandoned ships to scavenge for resources and iron, used to tip their spears and arrows. Imagine if we dropped stuff like guns and ammo for them... We would instantly grant a 2,00-year technological leap for an entire civilization. Imagine that kind of godlike power, right in our hands. But do we deserve to be gods ore do we just need to leave them alone for as long as we can. |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Apr 3, 2018 14:32:44 GMT
An interesting thing is that a mishap may have kickstarted the Iron Age for them. Two container ships once came ashore the reefs of North Sentinel Island, and scout imagery has shown the Sentinelese have come aboard these abandoned ships to scavenge for resources and iron, used to tip their spears and arrows. Imagine if we dropped stuff like guns and ammo for them... We would instantly grant a 2,00-year technological leap for an entire civilization. Imagine that kind of godlike power, right in our hands. But do we deserve to be gods ore do we just need to leave them alone for as long as we can. If we acted like that we would definitely qualify as evil 'gods'. I think the last thing they would need would be modern weapons, especially things they couldn't understand or build themselves, which would make them dependent on outsiders. There is the question of whether they should be 'helped', with the issue of successfully contacting them and potential problems like disease, how you win trust and what you actually introduce. I would be tempted to say leave them in peace unless there is a clear external threat, such as climate change for instance, threatening their existence. |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 3, 2018 14:34:25 GMT
But do we deserve to be gods ore do we just need to leave them alone for as long as we can. If we acted like that we would definitely qualify as evil 'gods'. I think the last thing they would need would be modern weapons, especially things they couldn't understand or build themselves, which would make them dependent on outsiders. There is the question of whether they should be 'helped', with the issue of successfully contacting them and potential problems like disease, how you win trust and what you actually introduce. I would be tempted to say leave them in peace unless there is a clear external threat, such as climate change for instance, threatening their existence. The main question is, will there be any people left on North Sentinel Island if you look at the numbers on Wiki. |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Apr 3, 2018 15:02:45 GMT
If we acted like that we would definitely qualify as evil 'gods'. I think the last thing they would need would be modern weapons, especially things they couldn't understand or build themselves, which would make them dependent on outsiders. There is the question of whether they should be 'helped', with the issue of successfully contacting them and potential problems like disease, how you win trust and what you actually introduce. I would be tempted to say leave them in peace unless there is a clear external threat, such as climate change for instance, threatening their existence. The main question is, will there be any people left on North Sentinel Island if you look at the numbers on Wiki. That could be the big danger.  |
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jasonsnow
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Post by jasonsnow on Apr 3, 2018 15:23:16 GMT
The main question is, will there be any people left on North Sentinel Island if you look at the numbers on Wiki. That could be the big danger. Sometime in the near future we would want to know their precise numbers. If they fall under 20, then we need to act. These people could be a window to our own prehistoric past, a way to know the roots of humanity. Either we like it or not, some point in the future we'll need to save them from extinction some point or another. |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 3, 2018 15:58:15 GMT
That could be the big danger. Sometime in the near future we would want to know their precise numbers. If they fall under 20, then we need to act. These people could be a window to our own prehistoric past, a way to know the roots of humanity. Either we like it or not, some point in the future we'll need to save them from extinction some point or another. But then again, looking at the island, we do not know for sure how many people live there.  |
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jasonsnow
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Post by jasonsnow on Apr 3, 2018 18:21:04 GMT
Sometime in the near future we would want to know their precise numbers. If they fall under 20, then we need to act. These people could be a window to our own prehistoric past, a way to know the roots of humanity. Either we like it or not, some point in the future we'll need to save them from extinction some point or another. But then again, looking at the island, we do not know for sure how many people live there. It can't be that hard. There just hasn't been enough commitment to really do it. Get yourself a high-flying drone equipped with infrared during nighttime, and count all the people you see. Sure there are challenges, but it's just a matter of technology and commitment. |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 3, 2018 18:22:19 GMT
But then again, looking at the island, we do not know for sure how many people live there. It can't be that hard. There just hasn't been enough commitment to really do it. Get yourself a high-flying drone equipped with infrared during nighttime, and count all the people you see. Sure there are challenges, but it's just a matter of technology and commitment. Doubt India will do that, the want to leave them alone, maybe it is the best thing to do for now. |
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jasonsnow
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Post by jasonsnow on Apr 3, 2018 18:27:09 GMT
For now. We can't know for sure for how long "for now" is. All it takes are a bunch of idiots with speedboats and guns to exterminate them, simply for the "glory" of being the ones who ended an entire civilization.
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