American killed by tribe in India

Frank Bullitt

Sounds like a nasty enough way to go.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46286215

Local media have reported that Chau may have wanted to meet the tribe to preach Christianity to them.

I hope this isn't true, would be pretty tragic if that was why he was going to the island.

Feisar

Watched a youtube vid on them last night.

Bloody idiot, they are known to kill outsiders on sight.

Frank Bullitt

The fishermen who brought him to the island have been arrested. His body was just left on the beach as well.

Zaph

Why the fcuk did he think that those people needed to hear about Jesus? This isn't the 19th century where missionaries went out to tame the savages and spread a bit of Godliness while they were at it. Those people have been cut off from the rest of the world, probably since long before Christianity ever existed, they weren't bothering anyone so he should have respected their right not to be bothered in return. I'm not saying that he deserved to be killed for what he was doing, but when the Indian government makes contacting the islanders a criminal offence it's for a reason, so he really has nobody to blame but himself. I just hope he didn't give them some disease that they have no immunity against, that would be equally tragic.

TheValeyard

"Dont go to the island they will kill you"



*goes to the island*



I'm shocked. Shocked they killed him.......if only there was some warning....

Atoms for Peace

Good on them.

Ten of Swords

Aside from the obvious dangers of hostility there is a real danger of an 'outsider' accidentally transmitting something viral that they would have no immunity to. If there are so few of them they must have a pretty fragile ecosystem on the island.

Ipso

He'll get his reward in heaven.

smelly sock

Gintonious wrote: »

Sounds like a nasty enough way to go.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46286215



I hope this isn't true, would be pretty tragic if that was why he was going to the island.

The island should be bombed. Wiped out. Evil people.

Feisar

Reminds me of the two idiots that went cycling in Tajikistan that were killed by ISIS.

Frank Bullitt

"He tried to reach the Sentinel island on November 14 but could not make it. Two days later he went well prepared. He left the dingy midway and took a canoe all by himself to the island," a source told news agency AFP. "He was attacked by arrows but he continued walking.

As tragic as his death is, its also sound more and more bizarre.

They are searching for his body but no sign, they can't land on the island because of the tribe being so hostile.

Wibbs

Fundamentalist Christian wins Darwin Award. What a deluded fool.

Those particular Andaman islanders have been isolated for centuries. Throughout that region other groups have contacted and then avoided outsiders for a very very long time. They represent a very early group of Africans that migrated from there into the rest of the world. They even still look like African folks.

Frank Bullitt

smelly sock wrote: »

The island should be bombed. Wiped out. Evil people.

duploelabs

Gintonious wrote: »

Sounds like a nasty enough way to go.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46286215



I hope this isn't true, would be pretty tragic if that was why he was going to the island.

Many many people have been killed trying to contact the tribe.

He was warned personally not to approach the island.

Ironic that he went to preach Christianity, yet was killed by Darwinism

LirW

Afaik there's a no-go radius around this island, a few kilometres.
It's a fascinating tribe when you read up about the very few encounters they had with the outside world - they're not particularly welcoming and one of the few contactless tribes that are still around.

So yeah, hard to feel sorry for that guy.

q85dw7osi4lebg

Wibbs wrote: »

Fundamentalist Christian wins Darwin Award. What a deluded fool.

Those particular Andaman islanders have been isolated for centuries. Throughout that region other groups have contacted and then avoided outsiders for a very very long time. They represent a very early group of Africans that migrated from there into the rest of the world. They even still look like African folks.

How did the photographer not die :eek:

gctest50

I hope they didn't catch anything off the cnut when they were killling him

It could wipe out the whole lot of them

Noveight

If only he had a gun...

Wibbs

smelly sock wrote: »

The island should be bombed. Wiped out. Evil people.

Wut nonsense is this? They have made it abundantly clear for many decades they want to be left alone. The government of the region respects that wish and makes it illegal to contact them. Once or twice they have been friendly to passing fishermen so long as they didn't step onto their land. Moron goes to convert them into a culture nor religion they want to have anything to do with, a moron that could kill them with a sneeze and they kill him. Sounds like a pretty good basis for self defence to me.

smelly sock

Gintonious wrote: »

Its shocking though. If some idiot knocks on my door looking to sell some ****e im not permitted to kill them because i dont want contact with them.

Police should possibly get involved.

Ipso

If only god had more than one son, then there would be no need for missionaries.

Feisar

Veronica Cold Frame wrote: »

How did the photographer not die :eek:

I'd say it was one of those jobs Attenborough would be using, about a mile away.

cdeb

Feisar wrote: »

Reminds me of the two idiots that went cycling in Tajikistan that were killed by ISIS.

Yes, I can see how it reminded you of that given there's no similarities whatsoever.

TheValeyard

Veronica Cold Frame wrote: »

How did the photographer not die :eek:

Zoooooooooooom lense.

troyzer

They've killed someone before and I remember reading that the government decided that basically no laws apply there and they couldn't be prosecuted.

Feisar

cdeb wrote: »

Yes, I can see how it reminded you of that given there's no similarities whatsoever.

To me they are very similar.

Idiots going somewhere they had no business going to.

Wibbs

Veronica Cold Frame wrote: »

How did the photographer not die :eek:

Different tribe. They're an odd bunch of cultures as far as anything novel in their environment goes. An extreme case of "not invented here" going on. For most of the history of the colonisation of the islands by outsiders, most of the tribes stayed away and isolated. Every so often for no apparent reason one of these tribes would emerge from the bush and engage with the foreigners. Sometimes for years, but then they often for no apparent reason, just melt back into the bush en masse overnight. Interestingly, though they never domesticated the dog, they have no fear of them. Doesn't sound so interesting, but then we're used to dogs. If you'd never seen one you'd see it as an obvious predator and likely stay the hell away.

cdeb

LirW wrote: »

one of the few contactless tribes that are still around.

Uncontacted.

Unless you're saying they're going around tapping debit cards at people.

cdeb

Feisar wrote: »

To me they are very similar.

Idiots going somewhere they had no business going to.

Why would you have no business going to Tajikistan?

Fairly ignorant comment tbh.

Wibbs

Wibbs wrote: »

Different tribe. They're an odd bunch of cultures as far as anything novel in their environment goes. An extreme case of "not invented here" going on. For most of the history of the colonisation of the islands by outsiders, most of the tribes stayed away and isolated. Every so often for no apparent reason one of these tribes would emerge from the bush and engage with the foreigners. Sometimes for years, but then they often for no apparent reason, just melt back into the bush en masse overnight. Interestingly, though they never domesticated the dog, they have no fear of them. Doesn't sound so interesting, but then we're used to dogs. If you'd never seen one you'd see it as an obvious predator and likely stay the hell away.

How do we know they never domesticated dogs? I'm always extremely sceptical when it come to the *ahem* soft sciences.

rainbowtrout

smelly sock wrote: »

Its shocking though. If some idiot knocks on my door looking to sell some ****e im not permitted to kill them because i dont want contact with them.

Police should possibly get involved.

No, it really isn't. Someone knocking on your door selling crap isn't going to kill you because you are largely immune to the same things as they are. This tribe do not have immunity to illnesses we largely see as trivial.

Also, it is illegal in India to contact them, so it makes it wildly different from a randomer knocking on your door. This guy knew that, and still went there like an idiot. This is all of his own doing. The tribe don't want contact from the rest of the world and they are protecting themselves.

LirW

cdeb wrote: »

Uncontacted.

Unless you're saying they're going around tapping debit cards at people.

My bad, mush brain right here.

Feisar

cdeb wrote: »

Why would you have no business going to Tajikistan?

Fairly ignorant comment tbh.

??? What? Yer taking the pistachios. ISIS roaming about, that's why.

archer22

He told them "Jesus saves" but when Jesus didn't try to save him they concluded he was telling lies.

AtomicHorror

VanGogh18 wrote: »

Why should those islanders be left in peace when we are not being left alone in peace on our island
fukin hypocrisy of the left

On the principle that it is good to treat people the way you would want to be treated, and that it's bad to treat people the same way mean people treat us? Is that a leftist thing?

Wibbs

Here's a friendly encounter back in the 90's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExdEHU02Zk0

Since then no official contact has been allowed. What is known of their culture is minimal. They're likely similar to others in the region. One odd thing they do when approached by boats is as well as hurling spears and arrows the men and women shag each other vigorously on the beach in full view. Showing off in fact. What that's about who knows.

Deleted User wrote: »

How do we know they never domesticated dogs? I'm always extremely sceptical when it come to the *ahem* soft sciences.

It's not social sciences we're talking here. Archaeological evidence and the various tribes own words. The domestication of the wolf/dog appears to have happened a couple of times in a couple of places, but the earliest definitive example of a "dog" is about 15,000 years ago. There are tantalising glimpses that may show earlier domestication events at 20,000 plus years ago, but they're rare. Genetic evidence in modern dogs and wolves gives a figure around the 10,000 mark.

The upshot of all that being that the Andaman islanders had long left Africa and the Asian mainland before the dog came along. That added to the archaeological evidence strongly suggests they didn't have dogs until outsiders showed up. And even then when they did, the islanders showed no interest in keeping dogs themselves.

Their cultures have degraded over the millennia. They once had pottery, but for some reason knocked that on the head about a thousand years ago. That tech may well have been brought in from outside.

satguy

cdeb wrote: »

Why would you have no business going to Tajikistan?

Fairly ignorant comment tbh.

It's bang on,, also the give away is that it ends in "stan"

erica74

Let them chill on their island in peace. You'd be jealous of them really.

amcalester

erica74 wrote: »

Let them chill on their island in peace. You'd be jealous of them really.

Ah I dunno, I’d say the WiFi is ****.

No point sitting on a tropical beach if you can’t insta it.

Ten of Swords

Sky news has a bit more detail than the BBC article

https://news.sky.com/story/us-man-killed-by-tribe-after-ignoring-ban-on-visiting-remote-north-sentinel-island-11559343

On the evening of 14 November the group of six pretended to be fishing to evade the patrolling police, coast guard and navy ships, reaching the island at midnight before Mr Chau kayaked to the island on the morning of 15 November.

Indian police officials confirmed the death and said a local electronics engineer simply named Alexander, who was a friend of Mr Chau's, a local watersports instructor and five fishermen who allegedly aided last Saturday's visit have been arrested for violating the terms of the island protection laws and for causing Mr Chau's death.

Local officers said they received an email from the US consulate general in Chennai, on the Indian mainland, saying Mr Chau's mother had contacted them to tell them he had visited North Sentinel Island and been attacked by tribesmen. They said the fishermen informed Alexander in Port Blair about his death and gave him 13 pages of his journal. Alexander then told one of Mr Chau's friends in the US who told his mother.

"They didn't inform the police or any government authority in this regard," Andaman Police said.

Police officials said a murder case had been registered against "unknown" tribespeople - but they are also blaming the fishermen, Mr Chau's friend and the watersports instructor.

alchemist33

Since then no official contact has been allowed. What is known of their culture is minimal. They're likely similar to others in the region. One odd thing they do when approached by boats is as well as hurling spears and arrows the men and women shag each other vigorously on the beach in full view. Showing off in fact. What that's about who knows.

And THIS is the video you show us?!?!

Wibbs wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExdEHU02Zk0

endacl

Veronica Cold Frame wrote: »

How did the photographer not die :eek:

FTA69

They’ve met and seen umpteen foreigners before, as can be seen by Wibb’s video above. Not to mention that there’s probably been a few voyeuristic unlicensed tours taken place as well as a load of illegal fishing to boot. Their neighbours on the nearby islands have been practically wiped out by foreigners, a fact they’re probably aware of - no wonder they’re not too keen on visitors. They mightn’t have a world view, but the probably know that outsiders mean bad news for them.

Some dopey arrogant yank rocking up off his head on Jesus and the Good News isn’t going to be exempt from their suspicion. I’ve no sympathy for him.

Frank Bullitt

https://in.reuters.com/article/india-usa-murder/american-killed-on-remote-indian-island-barred-to-visitors-idINKCN1NQ0RR

In his notes, the source said, Chau wrote that some members of the tribe were good to him while others were very aggressive.

“I have been so nice to them, why are they so angry and so aggressive?” the source quoted Chau as saying.

Reuters was unable to immediately trace contact details for Chau’s family or a representative.

The source, who asked not to be named, said Chau wrote that he was “doing this to establish the kingdom of Jesus on the island...Do not blame the natives if I am killed.”

Oh dear, oh dear.

CinemaGuy45

troyzer wrote: »

They've killed someone before and I remember reading that the government decided that basically no laws apply there and they couldn't be prosecuted.

Reminds me of a group we have in Ireland but this Tribe in India stick to themselves.

I wonder is there any chance of swapping?

Spleerbun

FTA69 wrote: »

Some dopey arrogant yank rocking up off his head on Jesus and the Good News isn’t going to be exempt from their suspicion. I’ve no sympathy for him.

Have to agree with this.

cdeb

Feisar wrote: »

??? What? Yer taking the pistachios. ISIS roaming about, that's why.

Ignorance it is so. FCO advice is Tajikistan is grand barring general precautions. Other Stans are fantastic tourist destinations. The attack you reference was the first of its kind in Tajikistan. Not comparable with a group of people it's illegal to contact because they are actively hostile to outsiders.

But hey, close your mind to the Stans because of one incident if you want. But it's the definition of ignorance really

(This has gone way off topic; apologies)

archer22

A Helicopter flew low over their island after the 2004 Tsunami to see if they had survived...When the waiting officials saw the helicopter returning back to base with arrows sticking out of it, they remarked "they seem to be ok then".

Ten of Swords

A freighter ran aground on the north beach of the island in 1981, the Primrose. The crew requested evacuation because they believed the islanders were going to attack however bad weather meant their primitive canoes couldn't reach the vessel. The crew were evacuated by helicopter.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/08/25/Twenty-eight-sailors-shipwrecked-for-nearly-two-weeks-off-a/1381367560000/

The shipwreck is still there, I wonder what the Islanders thought of it when they got to it eventually.

https://www.google.com/maps/@11.5933068,92.2134359,877m/data=!3m1!1e3

jmayo

Wibbs wrote: »

Wut nonsense is this? They have made it abundantly clear for many decades they want to be left alone. The government of the region respects that wish and makes it illegal to contact them. Once or twice they have been friendly to passing fishermen so long as they didn't step onto their land. Moron goes to convert them into a culture nor religion they want to have anything to do with, a moron that could kill them with a sneeze and they kill him. Sounds like a pretty good basis for self defence to me.

Are these morons like the mormons ?

Wibbs wrote: »

Here's a friendly encounter back in the 90's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExdEHU02Zk0

Since then no official contact has been allowed. What is known of their culture is minimal. They're likely similar to others in the region. One odd thing they do when approached by boats is as well as hurling spears and arrows the men and women shag each other vigorously on the beach in full view. Showing off in fact. What that's about who knows.

And where is that video ?

Wibbs wrote: »

It's not social sciences we're talking here. Archaeological evidence and the various tribes own words. The domestication of the wolf/dog appears to have happened a couple of times in a couple of places, but the earliest definitive example of a "dog" is about 15,000 years ago. There are tantalising glimpses that may show earlier domestication events at 20,000 plus years ago, but they're rare. Genetic evidence in modern dogs and wolves gives a figure around the 10,000 mark.

The upshot of all that being that the Andaman islanders had long left Africa and the Asian mainland before the dog came along. That added to the archaeological evidence strongly suggests they didn't have dogs until outsiders showed up. And even then when they did, the islanders showed no interest in keeping dogs themselves.

Their cultures have degraded over the millennia. They once had pottery, but for some reason knocked that on the head about a thousand years ago. That tech may well have been brought in from outside.

But they do like cats, right ?

Any chance this is a possible location for I'm a celebrity ....

cdeb wrote: »

Ignorance it is so. FCO advice is Tajikistan is grand barring general precautions. Other Stans are fantastic tourist destinations. The attack you reference was the first of its kind in Tajikistan. Not comparable with a group of people it's illegal to contact because they are actively hostile to outsiders.

But hey, close your mind to the Stans because of one incident if you want. But it's the definition of ignorance really

(This has gone way off topic; apologies)

Does that include Afghanistan and Pakistan ?

Galwayguy35

If there is only around 150 of them they must be very inbred by now, I'm not saying that trying to be smart or anything but you would think it would mean they have health problems when they are all so closely related.