Locals only at North Sentinel Island
A surf story, of sorts, for a slow news day.
The Brotherhood of Man struck a hitch last week when an unarmed American was killed on an idyllic Indian Ocean island.
John Allen Chau was trying to "reach out" to the locals of North Sentinel Island, but they were having none of it and shot Chau with arrows.
The ABC is reporting that Chau had a strong desire to to meet the Sentinelese and preach the word of God.
The Sentinelese are believed to be the last pre-Neolithic tribe in the world, they've repeatedly resisted outsiders and attack anyone who comes near their island, missionary man or not.
Whenever an attack like this happens, and there's been a few, it brings more attention to the bolshie Sentinelese. People start reading about them, they become curious, maybe they want to save their souls, or maybe just plunder their waves.
Being a non-believer I fall into the latter group. I logged on and unfurled the treasure map.
Google Earth shows the southern coast of North Sentinel Island is open to the Indian Ocean and gets much the same swell as Banda Aceh and the western Indonesian provinces. At the very southern tip is a reef pass with what appears to be a genuinely good lefthander on one side and a right that may need a bit of swell to tick over just a short paddle away.
Historical searches show enough consistency for it to be considered a good, reliable wave.
Great place for a surf camp! A workable left on one side of the channel, plus a smaller right just a short paddle away.
But let's consider the logistics. Those aforementioned attacks include the deaths of two fishermen whose boat accidentally drifted too close to the island when they were fishing for mud crabs. While in 2004, following the Indian Ocean earthquake, the Indian Governernment flew a helicopter overhead to check the islanders welfare. They were thanked with a volley of arrows.
A list of similarly heavy-handed encounters can be found here.
Sentinelese stand guard on their home beach. Tourists who've paddled out at Lennox Head may appreciate the image.
So despite the quality of the reef pass left, surfing on North Sentinel Island is off limits for a while yet. Truth be told it's good to know that even with the omniscience of Google Earth there are some waves that we can't reach.
And god help any silly bastard that tries.
Comments
Saw that in the news this morning Stu and thought you would be on to it. Equal parts bravery and stupidity is usually a fatal mix.
Fuck that’s gold.
This is Lifty’s poster tribe for peaceful natives ! Have yet to be exposed to the violence that White people invented and carry in their veins like a virus .
But wait , it turns out they’re ......Murderous savages !
Haha !
Can’t say I blame them though. Fucking god botherers.
Aboriginals the same.
At the Botany Bay first landing a local Abo was just throwing spears at the first landing attempt. Then he went away and came back with more weapons.
But the real joke is Aboriginals as proved in a documentary by Professor Tim Flannery and just recently validated by DNA testing from Queensland University, show they ARE NOT INDIGENOUS.
They came from SE Asia and India.
That is why the big change in language over the last 1-2 years (if you had not noticed) from using the term Indigenous - to "First People".
The very notion someone has special rights and privileges because they were here first is outrageous RACISM.
Besides there might have already been another people here first and the invading Indians (Aboriginals) wiped them out,.....who would know.
Great place to make this comment! Thanks!
This was as poorly written as you are informed...
You know Aboriginal means first people yer? Not just in Australia but anywhere. So there were Aboriginal Irish, Aboriginal Americans etc.Of course they came from somewhere else, all homosapiens came out of Africa and migrated from there.
Dingbat.
For those interested Google Makassans
I lived for a period in NE Arnhem land and grasped a understanding of Aboriginal Culture....
Hey Logical....if you squint, close one eye and shut some of your brain down you can sort of see where you are coming from with regards to no-one being "first" - otherwise you go back endlessly until the dawn of humanity in Africa. But for god sakes get into the 21st century and don't use disparaging and derogatory terms like "Abo"....its not the first grade school yard in the 1980s. Its 2018......
White cunt
Australia - always was, always will be Aboriginal land
Logical - always was, always will be a dickhead
logical you are an absolute idiot
Logical? You keep on telling yourself that because no one else will get on board with you. Sooner or later people with outdated thoughts and beliefs will die out. Sooner the better.
Surely those waves have been surfed a few times by passing yatchs? Anyone got any stories?
Lots of interesting passes all through the archipelago. Unfortunately access and permits make it all too hard for the majority of islands... unless you’re, by chanc, an Indian National.
Heard from a few people that were going to surf there.
Oddly, haven't heard from them since.
I like it. Yeh they saw what happened to their nearby neighbors who didn’t resist good ‘ol colonialism. Amazing they can even live, 60,000 years or so of success without good ‘ol advanced science! And no dollars! In such a small space too. The rational, advanced, scientific world (mind you just a few probs but... and that’s not counting the epidemics) should teach them about plastic and stuff, fiscal shit, inequality, economics, politics and how to have wars, poverty, work, and well, how to fuck everything up! Advanced shit!
Looks like they’ve figured the war shit out on their own .
But you told me they were peaceful ?
You said White people invented violence.
Great Nicobar Island...
ANDYM
mate it only takes a whisper mate and you could have spoilt it.
‘In later years, Portman addressed a meeting of the Royal Geographic Society in London where he described his interactions with the Adamanese. He admitted that “their association with outsiders has brought them nothing but harm, and it is a matter of great regret to me that such a pleasant race are so rapidly becoming extinct. We could better spare many another.”’
'But you told me they were peaceful ?
You said White people invented violence.'
I'll leave your edited add on out (surprise surprise). And I'll just put my kid gloves on, I know how sheltered you are,.. God knows you need it!!!
But well, you are just, well, you know making up well... stuff sounds nice... again. I never said anything like that about the North Sentinel Islanders. But well, making 'stuff' up, in your sheltered state of course, you are an expert, so, not surprised at all!!!
Didn’t J Callahan go there ?
That couldn’t be right , he’s all about respecting the wishes of the locals.
Hahaha first thing I did when I read this today too, straight on google maps looking for setups.
Reassuring there are still places like this on earth. Clearly they understand the true cost of god bothering.
Amen
Amen 2! Battlers!
Ahh the ol’ North Sentinelise. I have a Word doc on my work laptop that has a series of Google maps screenshots and coordinates to waves I’ve scoured in North Sentinel, North Korea, and Somalia that all look like they have potential to me. That’s what a slow day at work will do to you. Here’s hoping the aforementioned countries become friendly and welcoming to tourism…
Good riddance!
I bet they have a killer wave pool hidden in the jungle that runs on banana leaves. No wonder they want to keep it secret.
I can see if they did a Search Pro Contest here, the hot tub would be a big warm
Cauldron instead making a lovely minestrone or should that be Dhal curry for this
local tribe??
Wow I can't believe someone would actually consider travelling all that way to mabey score some uncrowded waves . How long you reckon the locals would last ??? How long ya reckon
it would remain uncrowded ???
If you live in Aus and can't score perfect waves somewhere on our coast , you aint tryin' hard enough .
If you just want to surf you might be right. I think the unknown is part of the adventure. As a teenager in the mid 1970’s Dad took me on diving and surfing trips sailing around between islands in the Pacifc Ocean. He and his mates had maps, crazy ideas and a thirst for discovery. On a surf trip with my daughter to Fiji about 25 years later we found ourselves surfing a couple of the same places near Namotu that Dad and his mates had taken me all those years before. Funny how I didn’t even know I’d surfed there, and got to share it again with my daughter. He certainly wasn’t the first to surf there. Arguabley extended discovery type trips like that come at a cost financially and to career. They certainly waste a lot of time but the experiences and memories are magic.
Do they have canoes ? If not park a yacht in the middle of that reef pass and go for it. If the Sentenelese stand on the reef taking pot shots at you - it's added incentive to stay in the barrel longer or do more turns to reduce their chances.
Spear bearing locals sound scary... but I say rocking up with a bunch AK47s and a crew of GIJoes to let them know who’s boss, then building a 6 star resort and employing the remaining locals that weren’t killed sounds like a great idea to make sure the island meets its full potential. Surfs up!
Nice coment logical , more like illogical . The aboriginies have been here more than 50,000 years not 200 yet they have no right to their ancestors land ? Honestly . I heard the last time missionarys went to these islands they introduced disease and heaps died so the natives didnt want anyone else coming ashore and have done a fine job keeping people away . Why the fk would they want to know about some bloke called jesus who lived a few thousand years ago in the middle east when they have their own traditions dating back tens of thousands of years and a beautiful tropical island to live on . Bloody missionaries those bastards destroyed half our planet with their imaginary friend bs . I know people who have surfed the area but its hard work as the navy does regular patrols trying to keep people away
His Instagram account
https://www.instagram.com/johnachau/
I can't claim to be A surf exploration guru but have flown over a number of places that looked like this. Later from a boat they have been fat and gutless. The view from above and behind can be deceptive can't it?
I think its nice the young guy wanted to share his love of God with people. You really have to know God wants you there though, otherwise it can turn bad quick if your going on your own steam. These people have decided that they don't want to know anything new and that's their right as fellow humans. It would have been better for them to just kick him off rather than kill him as he meant them no harm. The love of Jesus has transformed the globe into a better place regardless of some of the misinformed efforts of some early missionaries. The main message from Jesus the Christ is .."Love the Lord your God with all your Heart, Mind and Soul,..and to love your neighbour as yourself." If we do these things we will accomplish all the things we desire deep down. Love, peace, joy , friendship with all and war , hate and violence will be a distant memory.
“The Love of Jesus has transformed the globe into a better place”
What a load of shit, tell that to the hundreds of thousands of children (now adults and elderly) that have been abused by the church.
This is a classic example of karma. Good riddance to this arrogant arsehole.
the professor from gilligans island could help these folk
Obviously no natural resources worth plundering on or around the island or we all know what the outcome would be if there was.
all i can say that tribe is smart of all other tribes in the world! fuck missions and their bullshit with the jesus , mahammud or fatty cunt budah. Leave them alone and let ehm enjoy their crabs and reefbreaks. No traide for empty paper dollars or gold , greed that what killed many aboriginals , so they are fucking smart ! respect! Never speak to the facking incoming fackers and kill them !
Hahaha. This is gold!
He should be available after the next election!
Just maybe, there is enough time before the next election!
I saw that set up for the Sentinel Island back in 1997 before Google Earth. I spent weeks going through NASA Photos taken from the space shuttle hoping to get a glimpse through the clouds of some land and a surf break.
I found the photos to make me go to the Andaman Islands. I couldn't get to the Sentinel Island but got lucky as they opened up another Island to visitors while I was there. Myself and a German, meet on the boat, arrived on the Island after a small inter island boat trip. We had to stay down stairs as the decks were too narrow to sleep on. It was packed tight and stuffy. Arrived early morning to police wanting to know what we were doing on the Island. They hadn't been informed the Island was now open to tourist.
The wharf was nearly cleared when a lot of shouting started, we looked around and saw a large group of small, 5 feet or less men women and children getting off the boat. They had been kept in a section under where we had been. They were the Local Indigenous people of the Island. We were told to go to the police station to register to be on the Island. We were put in a bus on a dirt road which went by a port filled with giant rainforest trees cut from the forest. The forest on the Island went down to the Ocean with buttress roots showing just metres from the shore. In the police station there was a board which number the people on the island. I remember seeing Indian 10,000. We went down to the village by the port and had a chai and just watched endless logging trucks go by.
This fate awaits the Sentinel Island people and my guess is they see what has happened to the locals on the other Islands and want nothing to do with it. Can we just for once leave it be let them have a life tuned to nature. That is why nothing much happen to them with any tsunami, it's in their folk law to head to higher ground when this happens. This had been documented in research books from other native islands.
In the wake of the recent tragedy on North Sentinel Island I'm asking my friends if they would consider contributing a small donation to my gofund campaign.
For more arrows.
I will contribute
localism on Cocos island is only slightly better
Knew an American guy who surfed that area more than 20 years ago. Without a good boat and the necessary permits it was/is impossible. He had great waves though, just not on that particular island.
What this post highlighted to me is how many people in this thread seem to care more about surfing and hating people who hold a different worldview than about the fact that someone was murdered for trespassing onto someone’s property. If this incident happened in Australia there would be an outrage! Why is there not an outrage just because it happened in another country?
I fear some in this thread would kill me if Australian law (which, interestingly, largely stems from a Christian worldview) didn’t say otherwise, and for that I thank God!
Btw Stu, no one is a non-believer, everyone believes in something or someone whether that be themselves or something else, its just that some are more aware of what they believe and can articulate this more than others. If you didn’t believe then you wouldn’t do what you do because what you believe determines how you act.
Religion is like a penis. Do with it what you like in the privacy of your own home and don't go trying to force it down other's throats (particularly children)
Good call Luke,
These pathetic losers on here celebrating a guy getting murdered make me sick
Hey Tim Tam, I think he knew what was coming. If he got there he must have known what happens to unwanted visitors. I think he wanted matyrdom and he got it. Self righteous wanker got what he deserved or he should have done a bit more homework.
He probably thought God would protect him. Wrong god.
Hey mate, it was the fella's second trip to the island. The first ended when the tribesman shot him with an arrow, surviving that only because the arrow hit his notebook.
Hard to feel much sympathy for a guy who walks straight back into that. The family who'll miss him, yeah, of course, but not for someone who wants to be a martyr.
I love it for the fact that the world hasn’t been utterly ‘ globilised ‘ into the monoculture that some assume is the beneficial endpoint of a slew of trade deals.
The “ multicultural “ endgame for globalists is so monochromatic and dull that life has nothing to offer the adventurous.
Fuck your monoculture in the name of diversity.
Anyerson with an inkling of free spirit seees that the push for globalisation is an adjunct to a life with any reservations about authority.
Wow. These 2 Churchie tossers on their high horses. Not like a Churchie at all to exaggerate and try sensationalise an issue. "I fear some in this thread would kill me....".
These indigenous people neither asked for help nor needed any. Have survived how many years including the most catastrophic tsunami in modern history. And have made it quite clear they don't want any outside contact. Yet this egotistical wanker knows better does he?
One thing is clear to me. He didn't do it to help them, he did it for his own ego. There are plenty of places around the world where people need and want help, but the thing is about those places is there are already others there helping (some most likely with alterior motives) so old mate wouldn't get the recognition and ego boost he craved. Or the amasing selfies for his Instagram. How about you 2 go over to the island and finish the "good work of God" that old mate started and honour his memory, if you are true believers.
I rest my case. Christian missionaries have destroyed or distorted hundreds of ancient cultures in the name of the newish cult of Jesus. Will they never learn what we have lost?
I don't really want an answer, because I know you will just regurgitate some political correct bullshit and not your true feelings, But here goes. What would you 2 self-righteous wankers think if it was some fanatical Muslim from Banda aceh that tried this same thing?
Just a hypothetical, I'm certainly not on either side. I would feel the same as I do if it was someone from another religion. I'm not prejudiced.
LOGICAL, I’m about to hit you with some knowledge. Even if indigenous migrated from SE Asia they navigated Australia over let say, a minimum of 40,000- 50,000 years ago . Though anyone who’s passed primary school Knows this. Rule of thumb, isn’t being a local at most locations around Australia is having being born or lived at that location for a extended period of time. With being a local a various locations across aus typically see locals taking ownership or local hierarchy of their wave . So if the same rules apply, Aboriginals still have thousands of years of localism at all locations across Australia. The true protectors of surf locations across aus. Nothing certainly was exploited .So next time t you paddle out and some grumpy old prick who is death starring you down for paddle out at his wave, don’t feel so bad for stealing a few waves . If there is any finger pointing it should be at the church.
Slightly more hardcore version of the bra boys
Yeah the North Sentinelese call the Bra boys the' Nancy boys'
Surf chat rooms, always good for a laugh. If there wasn't surf on this island, no surfer would in the remotest bit care - small picture always. All the old guys out there, remember Byron back in the day. Or Lennox when the farm was still there. The Gold Coast, Bali, Mentawais, Jeffreys - name a spot. Look at them now. That is unfortunately the future unless the government steps in and creates a reserve of some type to keep Australian/American/Brazilian camp owners at bay. Sorry, forgot a good one - the Sumba camp.
Logical - good for ya cholesterol. Lacks some understanding though. The plural is aborigines.
Yeah, that's not cool. We don't like it when boats turn up to our country announced (ironically). We don't like it when foreigners disrespect our surf breaks. Any intervention, no matter how trivial we think it is could have extreme impacts on these peoples culture. They WANT to be left alone.
I was looking for surf spots here - but it also looks like there might be some good single track - so send in the Mountain bikers first!. :-)
“Pauline Hanson praises Sentinelese tribe for 'keeping borders closed'”
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/pauline-hanson-praises-sentinelese-tribe-for...
I read somewhere that there are also waves on South Sentinel Island.
Apparently, under the right conditions, there is a stonking left hander
called Lone Palm off the NW tip. Anyone been there?
If the missionaries were honest with them selves they would see that they are not enlightened souls. If they were enlightened they wouldn't be imposing themselves on others especially a tribe living a sustained life at one with universe.
Crusoe who was described as the "true prototype of the British colonist" by writer James Joyce, saves a native man — who he names Friday — from his "savage" existence by exposing him to Western culture.
However, this world that clearly inspired the imagination of Chau no longer exists, says professor of American studies and international affairs at George Washington University, Melani McAlister, who describes Chau's actions as a kind of "performative fantasy".
"It's breathtakingly naive — he is showing up and talking about Jesus in a language these people don't even speak," she tells the ABC.
"This guy seems to me to be enacting a fantasy of first contact that is almost impossible to have anywhere in the world anymore."
The Christians who won't take no for an answer on ABC
I have heard a story of missionaries arriving at an island to save the savages with the word of Christ. As they weighed anchor three natives walked off the beach and across the water to greet them.
Fascinating docco on the whole area from 1974, including attempted contact at North Sentinel Island (towards the end).
And this is a great read, from May last year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/world/asia/anthropologist-india-andam...
Great account of the destructive hand of civilized man.
Looks these guys have been fucked over by tourists before , and I,m guessing it's over more than just waves.
Australia had its own version of this with the Pintupi Nine in 1984.
They chose to meet the outside world though, and didn't need their souls saved by evil fundamentalists from Evangelistan.