The Sentinelese: Screw You, Modern World

The Sentinelese are a “lost tribe”, one of a handful of indigenous groups scattered over the world that refuse to get with the program. They’ve been the subject of a centuries-long, on-and-off, lukewarm campaign by various first-world upstarts who want to “befriend” them.

Oddly fickle in their response to visitors, the tribespeople have thus far completely resisted forming any sort of bond with outsiders.

On some visits the party would see Sentinelese; on others they would not. Invariably, however, they would try to land - at a place out of bow-shot, if there were natives on the beach - and leave gifts. These in-cluded sacks of coconuts, bananas, and bits of iron conveniently sized to be hammered and scraped into arrowheads; occasionally they brought special presents like mirrors, red ribbons, rubber balls, and bead neck-laces. Sometimes the Sentinelese would make gestures that appeared friendly, waving their hands as the dinghies chugged across the lagoon; sometimes they would make gestures that were probably hostile, turning their backs toward the visitors en masse and sitting on their haunches as if to defecate. It was not out of character for them to rush out of the jungle and grab the gifts, then shower their retreating benefactors with arrows.

My pet theory is that they are the branch of the family that wasnever meant to grow up. They simply lack curiosity, or appreciationfor novelty, or even an interest in obtaining new knowledge. In thisrespect, they are exactly like the rest of humanity. Butsomehow, they have avoided spawning any sort of innovator: a weird kidwith weird ideas and the means to propagate them. They reportedly have never even figured out how to make fire, instead having to rely on embers maintained from occasional lightning strikes.

But the Inca built an empire without the wheel, so perhaps I’m judging too harshly.

The Last Island of the Savages [Andaman.org, via The Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society]