US YouTuber who risked wiping out uncontacted tribe by leaving them a can of Coke says he
An American YouTuber who risked wiping out an uncontacted tribe in the Indian Ocean by leaving them a can of Coke has defended his actions.
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 25, was arrested in March last year after he set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island – part of India‘s Andaman and Nicobar Islands – in a bid to meet people from the reclusive Sentinelese tribe.
Polyakov, who filmed the stunt for his YouTube channel, stayed on the island for about an hour, blowing a whistle to attract attention, but received no response from the islanders, Indian police said at the time.
He later left a can of Diet Coke and a coconut as an offering.
In footage he released on Friday of his journey last year, he explained he wanted to see the tribe, say hello, and to offer them a Coke ‘to transport them thousands of years into the future’.
Following the move, he faced fierce criticism for potentially endangering the lives of those within the isolated tribe through disease.
However, speaking to Dutch media on Monday, Polyakov said: ‘I am vaccinated against the flu and measles, and I never intended to come into direct contact with them. And as far as I know, you can’t catch diseases simply by looking at each other.
‘I am receiving a lot of reactions, both positive and negative. I am open to that. A lively debate is healthy,’ he added.
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 25, was arrested in March last year after he set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island – part of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The Sentinelese, who are considered to be the world’s last pre-Neolithic tribe, have a history of hostility towards outsiders, having attacked almost everyone who has entered their territory
It comes after Polyakov uploaded a video to his channel on Friday titled: The Last Island Part 2, which captured his real-time journey to the island.
He refused to reveal how he obtained the footage since he was forced to surrender it to Indian authorities at the time of his arrest.
‘I wanted to give them a gift that is representative of our civilisation,’ he told the Dutch outlet AD.
‘I have reservations about India’s policy regarding this island, but I understand the reasons that led the government to adopt this position.
‘But I have no illusions about what people think of me. Everyone is free to think what they want,’ he said.
The YouTuber, who is set to upload Part 3 of his forbidden Sentinel Island journey, according to AD, assured that he has had no contact with the tribe.
On his return from the island, Polyakov was spotted by local fishermen, who informed the authorities, and he was arrested in Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, an archipelago nearly 750 miles east of India’s mainland.
A case was registered against him for violation of Indian laws that prohibit any outsider from interacting with the islanders.
A court in Port Blair rejected Polyakov’s application for bail in April and extended his judicial custody.
The YouTuber was charged with entering a prohibited tribal reserve area and violating Indian laws that stop outsiders from interacting with the islanders.
Visitors are banned from travelling within three miles of the island, whose population has been isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years.
The inhabitants use spears, bows and arrows to hunt the animals that roam the small, heavily forested island. Deeply suspicious of outsiders, they attack anyone who lands on their beaches.
Indian officials have limited contact to rare ‘gift-giving’ encounters, with small teams of officials and scientists leaving coconuts and bananas for the islanders.
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov was arrested last year after allegedly making an illegal landing on the remote island and leaving behind a can of Diet Coke
Polyakov was arrested in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands after he allegedly made an illegal and unauthorized landing at the tribal reserve on North Sentinel Island, which is inhabited by the ‘particularly vulnerable’ Sentinelese tribe (pictured in this file photo)
Indian ships also monitor the waters around the island, trying to ensure outsiders do not go near the Sentinelese, who have repeatedly made clear they want to be left alone.
In a statement, police at the time said Polyakov’s ‘actions posed a serious threat to the safety and well-being of the Sentinelese people, whose contact with outsiders is strictly prohibited by the law to protect their indigenous way of life.’
An initial investigation revealed Polyakov had made two previous attempts, in October last year and January, to visit the islands, including in an inflatable kayak.
Police said Polyakov was drawn to the island due to his passion for adventure and extreme challenges, and was fascinated by the mystique of the Sentinelese people.
Survival International, a group that protects the rights of Indigenous peoples, said Polyakov’s attempted contact with the tribes of North Sentinel was ‘reckless and idiotic.’
‘This person’s actions not only endangered his own life, but they also put the lives of the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk,’ the group’s director, Caroline Pearce, said in a statement.
Experts have warned that reaching uncontacted tribes is unsafe for adventurers themselves, as they risk getting killed by Indigenous groups.
In 2018, American missionary John Chau was murdered when he attempted to make contact with one of the world’s most isolated Indigenous groups on North Sentinel Island, off the coast of India.
Survival International has also explained how outsiders can introduce diseases to which isolated tribes have no immunity.