



According to Survival, the Sentinelese hunt and gather in the forest, and fish in the coastal waters by make narrow outrigger canoes, which can only be used in shallow waters as they are steered and propelled with a pole like a punt.





Indian authorities made a few trips to the island a bid to befriend the tribe in the 1970s.





On one trip, two pigs and a doll were left on the beach. The animals were speared by the tribe and buried along with the doll.





More regular visits occurred in the 1980s which saw teams try to land and leave gifts of coconuts, bananas and bits of iron.





Sometimes, the Sentinelese appeared to make friendly gestures but other times, they would take the gifts into the forest and then fire arrows at the outsiders.





But in 1991, there appeared to be a breakthrough. When officials landed on the island, the tribe gestured for them to bring their gifts and for the first time, approached without weapons.





However, they resumed their hostility again once they attacked a wooden boat with their adzes, a stone axe for cutting wood.





The gift-giving missions stopped in 1996, but periodic checks are made from boats anchored at a safe distance from the shore to ensure that the Sentinelese appear well and have not chosen to seek contact.





Officials made two checks following the 2004 tsunami and then declared that no further attempts would be made to contact the tribe.





It is now illegal to have any contact with the tribe and last year, the Indian government said even taking photographs or making videos of aboriginal Andaman tribes would be punishable with imprisonment of up to three years.





Corry said the British colonial occupation of the Andaman Islands 'decimated the tribes living there, wiping out thousands of tribespeople, and only a fraction of the original population now survive.'





'So the Sentinelese fear of outsiders is very understandable,' he said.





'Uncontacted tribes must have their lands properly protected. They're the most vulnerable peoples on the planet. Whole populations are being wiped out by violence from outsiders who steal their land and resources, and by diseases like the flu and measles to which they have no resistance.





'Tribes like the Sentinelese face catastrophe unless their land is protected. I hope this tragedy acts as a wake up call to the Indian authorities to avert another disaster and properly protect the lands of both the Sentinelese, and the other Andaman tribes, from further invaders.'