Silencing the Sentinelese

The Last Island endeavours to navigate the extensive history of the Andaman islanders. However, it lacks rigour

- Ajay Saini

IN mid-November 2018, a Bible-clutching American evangelist trespassed onto the forbidden North Sentinel Island in the Andamans and laid eyes on the “world’s most isolated” indigenous people—the Sentinelese. “My name is John [Chau] ... Jesus Christ gave me the authority to come to you,” he hollered. The Sentinelese, who live in voluntary isolation, repelled him. The evangelist, however, was resolute to “declare Jesus” to the inhabitants of “Satan’s last stronghold.” And the rest is history.

Two decades earlier, another American—a telescope and camera-clutching journalist—had illegally visited North Sentinel and published The Last Island of the Savages (2000), a long-form story that would later inspire Chau.

About a year after the evangelist’s tragic killing at the hands of the Sentinelese, the author (now a historian), Adam Goodheart, returned to the Andamans. His latest book, The Last Island: A Story of the Andamans and the Most Elusive Tribe in the World, draws from these expeditions, besides published texts and other primary sources.

Part travelogue and part narrative history, The Last Island is touted as “the first full-length book” on North Sentinel. However, it hardly offers substantial insights on the island beyond existing knowledge. The book unfolds across four chapters, covering around 180 pages of text and over a dozen black-and-white photographs and maps. Nearly half of it diverges from the Sentinelese, while a large portion merely reiterates Goodheart’s 2000 article, with added corrections and information.