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CaptainJZH OP t1_j64ghww wrote

Reply to comment by Xszit in TIL workers dismantling the wrecked MV Primrose off of North Sentinel Island were confronted by the isolated Sentinelese, but defused the situation by giving them bananas and letting them on board to acquire scrap metal. Workers were visited by the Sentinelese 2-3 times a month for 18 months. by CaptainJZH

Oh they absolutely were thrusted into an Iron Age of sorts, cause they have been spotted using metal-tipped spears and whatnot. And who knows, the rusting hulk of the ship is still there so they have a pretty good supply for a while, maybe eventually they'll put metal to fire and discover what you can do with that.

This is basically the equivalent of us reverse-engineering a crashed alien spaceship lol

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Burninator05 t1_j64pemz wrote

I think that kind of thing happened a couple of times during the island hopping phase of WW2. There were religions set up around this concept.

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LeanMeanDrMachine t1_j65d51g wrote

There's also a tribe in Vanuatu who have a creation myth that involves their first queen leaving across the ocean to marry a god. So when the British turned up and told them about queen Elizabeth the 2nd they decided that prince Phillip must be god.

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bhillen83 t1_j65dzqm wrote

Ah the cargo cults! Such a fascinating phenomenon!

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kthulhu666 t1_j64n9xa wrote

Metal ain't no Coke bottle, though.

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DaddyJBird t1_j65k7aw wrote

Dang it I and my middle school friends saw that advertised in the theaters and thought it looked good. Went to see it as 12 year olds and was fairly bored with it but it did have some comical relief at times. As an adult I appreciate that picture much more.

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JimC29 t1_j66nzx7 wrote

Everyone knows if you find a Coke bottle you have to take an adventure to the end of the world to throw it off.

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gwaydms t1_j65h1zq wrote

The Sentinelese cold-forge iron to make arrowheads. And they are familiar with outsiders. All they would need to do is hold out their hands, stop killing those who try to contact them, and their lives would be easier. Or would they?

My guess is that they have seen what has happened to tribes that accepted the "blessings of civilization": disease, enslavement, loss of their traditional way of life. And they want none of it. They'll accept gifts, but only on their own terms. They're fighting for their independence. And the Indian government patrols stay at arm's length, keeping away those who would exploit the Sentinelese.

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Tea_4_thee t1_j65smgd wrote

They have personal experience with what the ‘blessings of civilization’ means, the first time an outsiders made contact with the tribe 6 of them (two elderly people and 4 children) were kidnapped. All 6 of them fell ill and died.

I don’t think contact with outsiders is possible for them, their immune systems can’t handle modern diseases and sickness. There’s a good chance somebody spreading a cold to them could wipe out the entire tribe.

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CaptainJZH OP t1_j6600uh wrote

Also, some North Sentinel Islanders were once kidnapped, back in the colonial period, only for them to die because of disease. They probably have oral histories dating far far back so I would imagine "that time outsiders literally took some of us away never to be seen again" is a major part of their worldview.

And well, if anyone knows what it's like to have your culture and land tarnished by an outside force, it's India lol

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AlcoholicWombat t1_j66gcq3 wrote

That's actually probably what happened. Back in the 19th century some British guy basically kidnapped 4 of them and took them to Port Blair, they all got sick, 2 died, and he returned the other two. Who knows what effect those diseases had on the population

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happystamps t1_j655brs wrote

Flying up unto space past the huge dust clouds, seeing all of the stars and thinking "it'll have to go"

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Xszit t1_j6681vo wrote

This make twice this week I've had someone reply to one of my comments with a really obscure hitchhikers guide reference from one of the later books. I'm going to have to reread it all to make sure I'm not missing any I might have forgot.

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Triassic_Bark t1_j68cd6a wrote

I just wanted a documentary about them today, which also claimed that the scrap metal “thrust them into the Iron Age”. No it didn’t. Making tools out of found metal does not equal being in the Iron Age. The Iron Age was when people figured out how to use raw iron to make tools. They have no iron ore, and if they did they wouldn’t know how to turn it into tools.

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Thefirstfish t1_j68vczp wrote

12 months later, the first sentinelese nuclear powered battleship enters international waters

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