US tourist arrested for leaving a Coke can for isolated tribe, risking their safety

A man from America has been taken into custody for unlawfully entering a designated tribal reserve on North Sentinel Island, which is part of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where he left behind a can of soda and coconuts as an offering.

Twenty-four-year-old Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov was apprehended after he navigated to the island, which is inhabited by the Sentinelese tribe, one of the few remaining isolated communities in the world.

Polyakov undertook this voyage in a makeshift vessel, covering the 25-mile journey from South Andaman. It seems the Sentinelese, who are notorious for their aggressive stance against outsiders, did not detect his presence. This tribe has a history of attacking trespassers in order to safeguard their territory, and in the past, they have fatally harmed individuals who encroached upon their land.

The Indian police are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding Polyakov’s visit, with police director HS Dhaliwal stating, “We are getting more details about him and his intention to visit the reserved tribal area. We are also trying to find out where else he has visited during his stay in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.”

The Sentinelese tribe has lived in isolation on North Sentinel Island for over 60,000 years, remaining untouched by the outside world. They continue to defend their homeland with handmade tools, including bows and arrows. Their isolation is partly due to an incident in 1880 when outsiders brought disease and captured members of the tribe, leading to further mistrust of any foreign contact.

This incident is reminiscent of previous encounters with outsiders. In 2018, American missionary John Allen Chau was killed by the tribe while attempting to convert them to Christianity. Similarly, the island has a long history of contact with anthropologists and other outsiders, though the tribe’s reluctance to engage has only grown stronger over time.

Authorities have placed a strict ban on visiting North Sentinel Island to protect the tribe from outside diseases and to respect their voluntary isolation. Despite this, the incident highlights the dangers of engaging with such remote tribes and the growing risks posed by modern-day trespassing on protected territories.