American preacher John Allen Chau was killed over the weekend by tribesmen on North Sentinel Island in the Indian ocean.
The tribe are one of the last remaining people’s who has resisted all contact with the outside world and has shown intense hostility to outsiders that have stepped onto the island.
Mr Chau is thought to have been killed by bow and arrow.
Police reported his death overnight, and an effort is underway to try and retrieve his body, led by Indian authorities.
The tribe are notoriously aggressive toward outside visitors and have sent volleys of arrows toward welfare helicopters in the past.
The tribe have avoided almost all contact with modern society
Two fishermen whose boat washed up on the Island in 2006 were also killed, with the tribespeople using spears and arrows to attack all unwanted visitors to the Island.
Police stationed a rescue boat 400 meters off the Island earlier today but withdrew when the tribespeople lined up on the beach with arrows and spears.
The tribe standing guard on the Island’s edge
India has forbidden visits to the Island for decades, with scholars estimating that the people migrated to the Island from Africa as long at 50,000 years ago.
Mr Chau had paid fisherman to illegally take him to the island, before kayaking to the shore in an effort to contact and preach to the tribe.
Mr Chau had made a previous attempt at contacting the people before being killed but was shot at by tribespeople, causing him to swim back to the boat that was stationed offshore.
“Why did a little kid have to shoot me today?” he wrote in his diary, left with the fisherman before his return to the island.
“Would it be wiser to leave and let someone else continue? No, I don’t think so.”
The area of the Island where Mr Chau is thought to be buried
“We recently learned…that John…was reportedly killed in India while reaching out to members of the Sentinelese tribe,” said a statement by his family on his Instagram.
“He loved God, life, helping those in need and had nothing but love for the Sentinelese people.”
Police have charged the fisherman who took Mr Chau to the island with endangering life, however, the family have pleaded for their pardon.
“We forgive those reportedly responsible for his death,” they wrote, adding that “he ventured out on his own free will and his local contacts need not be persecuted for his own actions.”
Check out the full statement from the family below
Mr Chau was reportedly an experienced outdoor adventurer who spent summers in a Californian cabin helping hikers in need, and also coached soccer for children in poverty in Iraq and South Africa.
Mr Chau was an avid adventurer
Details about the tribe are almost entirely unknown, including what language they speak and how many people there are. Efforts to retrieve Mr Chau’s body are continuing.
