A Christian missionary, John Allen Chau, was killed by one of the world’s last untouched tribes. The Sentinelese people of the Andaman Islands are a pre-Neolithic tribe living on an island off the coast of India, they are historically know for being hostile towards outsiders. Knowing the dangers of such a missionary trip, Chau traveled to the island with the intentions of converting the Sentinelese to Christainty. The tribe shot Chau with arrows upon his arrival.

Vists to North Sentinle are prohibited by the Indian government and any contact with the island’s inhabitants are strictly illegal. There areonly around 50-150 Sentinelese people, according to the BBC, making the group extremely endangered. The group is completly cut off from the surrounding world, staying true to ancient historical traditions and protecting themselves from industrial development.  The Police Director -General of India has decribed Chau’s mission as a “misdirected adventure”, while other’s call the mission a case of modern imperialism. Chau’s family have released a statement forgiving the Sentinlese people for his death and asking the Indian authority to not take legal action against the tribe. They have also stated the Chau’s death was the result of “his own actions”.

Contact with outsiders could wreak havoc on the Sentinelese people. Contact with others has the potential to expose them to unknown diseases, which would dessimante the populaiton. The preservation of ancient cultures is nesscary in a world that has been mostly globalized, people as dedicated to tradition as the Sentinelese are rare and important to our understanding of the ancient world.

The death of John Chau is tradegic, but it will also serve as a reminder to leave untouched people alone.