Influencers pose ‘new threat’ for uncontacted tribe

There is a “new and increasing threat” being posed to uncontacted indigenous people as a result of “reckless and idiotic” actions.

Influencers who attempt to visit uncontacted tribes have been labelled “reckless and idiotic” by an organisation advocating for indigenous peoples.

YouTuber Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov was the latest outsider to try and make contact with the Sentinelese people after visiting the North Sentinel Island in the Indian Ocean last month.

The 24-year-old left the isolated tribe a can of coke and a coconut on the shore as a peace offering – but both items were ignored.

A few days after his visit on March 31, he was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for entering the island without any authorisation.

Sentinelese people live on an island in the Indian Ocean, isolated from the outside world. Picture: Alamy

Travel within 5.5km of the island was prohibited by India’s government in 1956, and the territory is demarcated as a tribal reserve. This is to protect the Indigenous people from outside diseases and to preserve their way of life.

Survival International, a group that advocates for the rights of tribal people, describes the Sentinelese as “the most isolated Indigenous people in the world” living on an island about the size of Manhattan.

There’s believed to be only about 150 of the Sentinelese people.

Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov is a Ukrainian-American YouTuber, who was arrested after visiting North Sentinel Island – home to one of the most isolated tribes in the world. Picture: Survival International

Survival International director Caroline Pearce condemned Mr Polyakov’s, saying the YouTuber not only endangered his own life, but put the lives of the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk.

“It’s very well known by now that uncontacted peoples have no immunity to common outside diseases like flu or measles, which could completely wipe them out,” Ms Pearce said in a statement on April 2.

“The Sentinelese have made their wish to avoid outsiders incredibly clear over the years – I’m sure many remember the 2018 incident in which an American missionary, John Allen Chau, was killed by them after landing on their island to try to convert them to Christianity.”

Travel within 5.5km of the island was prohibited by India’s government in 1956, and the territory is demarcated as a tribal reserve. Picture: Maxar Technologies.

Mr Chau was shot with an arrow in 2018 after he reportedly shouted Christian phrases at the tribe. His body remains buried on the island to this day.

Fishermen who were arrested at the time for taking Mr Chau to North Sentinel, said they saw the tribe burying the body on the beach.

The Sentinelese normally attack anyone who goes to the island. In 2006, two fishermen who strayed onto the island were killed.

One week after their deaths, their bodies were hooked on bamboo stakes facing out to sea.

Dependra Pathak, director-general of police of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where North Sentinel is located, described it as “a kind of scarecrow”.

The last outsider who visited the islands, American missionary John Allen Chau (pictured), was killed by the tribe in 2018 and his body remains buried on the island to this day.

Chau, who kayaked to the remote island, was killed with a bow and arrow. Picture: AP Photo/Sarah Prince

“They were patrolling the beach, at the same spot John was killed, with weapons,” Mr Pathak said, according to the New York Times.

“Had we approached … they would have attacked. This case is the strangest and toughest in my life.

“We are trying to enter into another civilisation’s world.”

Meanwhile, earlier this month, a local court sent Mr Polyakov to a 14-day judicial custody and he is set to appear again in the court on April 17. Indian authorities said they had informed the US Embassy of the case.

In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami this member of the Sentinelese tribe was photographed firing arrows at a helicopter. Picture: Indian Coastguard/ Survival International

If found guilty, he could face three to five years in prison for breaching the law that prohibits unauthorised entry into the areas inhabited by protected tribes of North Sentinel Island.

“It’s good news that the man in this latest incident has been arrested, but deeply disturbing that he was reportedly able to get onto the island in the first place,” Ms Pearce said.

“Indian authorities have a legal responsibility to ensure that the Sentinelese are safe from missionaries, social media influencers, people fishing illegally in their waters and anyone else who may try to make contact with them.”

Jarawa people on North Sentinel Island. An isolated tribe who live in parts of South Andaman and Middle Andaman Islands. Picture: Alamy

It is still unclear why the influencer visited the tribe, but during interrogation, he allegedly told police he was a “thrill seeker” and had visited Afghanistan to meet Taliban members in the past, Times of India reported.

Mr Polyakov has been linked to a YouTube channel with just over 530 subscribers, featuring clips detailing his experiences in Afghanistan.

A six-part series titled “Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan Through American Eyes” shows the 24-year-old being handed a machine gun by the Taliban and exploring Soviet-era tanks in the area.

Mykhailohe has a six-part series on YouTube where he visited Afghanistan to meet Taliban members. Picture: Survival International

Mr Polyakov reportedly reached the northeastern shore of the island at about 10am on March 29, he used binoculars to survey the area but saw no inhabitants.

As such, he remained offshore for an hour, blowing a whistle to attract attention, but received no response.

He landed briefly for about five minutes, left the can of Coke and coconut as offerings on the shore, collected sand samples, and recorded a video before returning to his boat, police said.

He was reportedly spotted by a local fisherman at about 7pm upon his return journey to Kurma Dera Beach.

Officials maintain that this was not Mr Polyakov’s first journey to reach the isolated tribe. Back in January, the 24-year-old illegally filmed the remote Jarawa tribe while visiting the Baratang Islands, police said, according to the New York Post.

He also attempted to conduct reconnaissance of the North Sentinel Island using an inflatable kayak last October, but staff at the hotel where he was staying stopped him, officials said.

Meanwhile, Ms Pearce said uncontacted Indigenous peoples around the world are experiencing the invasion of their lands on “a shocking scale”.

“Countless uncontacted peoples in the Amazon are being invaded by loggers and gold-miners. The uncontacted Shompen of Great Nicobar Island, not far from North Sentinel, will be wiped out if India goes ahead with its plan to transform their island into ‘the Hong Kong of India’.”