John Allen Chau, a 26-year-old American missionary paddled his kayak toward North Sentinel Island on the morning of November 16, 2018. The shoreline was silent—just the lapping waves and a distant seabird’s call.
Chau had already tried twice before. The previous morning, he had approached the huts, calling out in English, hoping to make contact. The Sentinelese fiercely drove him away, shouting at him from the shore. Later that day, on his second attempt, a “young boy” shot an arrow at him, striking his waterproof Bible. He had retreated then, shaken but not discouraged.
Now, the next day, he pressed on. The fishermen who had brought him this far—illegally, for ₹25,000 ($285)—watched uneasily from a distance. The Indian government had banned all contact since 1956 to protect both outsiders and the tribe itself.
