Search for Missionary's Body Halted Due to Risk of Disease
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-usa-murder/citing-disease-risk-to-tribe-group-urges-halt-to-hunt-for-dead-american-idUSKCN1NV1JN
On November 15, an American Christian missionary named John Allen Chau made a fatal illegal trip to the North Sentinel island in an attempt to convert them. He was subsequently killed by the tribe and the seven people who helped him get to the island have been arrested. The North Sentinelese are believed to be the only pre-neolithic tribe left on the planet. The Indian government is seeking out to retrieve the body of Chau, however the indigenous rights group Survival International has been heavily advising against this intrusion to the island, as with every subsequent visit to the island by outsiders, the risk of the tribe getting wiped out grows even larger.
Reuters has provided current and relevant information regarding this story and many others, and is a rather reliable source of information. I believe this event to be a tragic one, and one with a very complex decision to be made. Should Chau's body be retrieved for his mourning family, or should the safety of the Sentinelese be prioritized and they remain as they are, unscathed by the diseases of the world at large. I also believe the death of Chau to be a sorrowful revelation, however his death could have been prevented with a greater enforcement of the sovereignty of the Sentinelese.
I believe this event and its implications bare some resemblance to the isolation of the American territory of American Samoa during the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918. The island was one of if not the sole survivor of the plague, avoiding it by maintaining a strict regulation of isolation of its people. That is much like how, while the rest of the world endures the various diseases of measles, flu, or any disease, the North Sentinelese stay safe by keeping their isolation and by the rest of the world respecting that isolation and their rights.
I heard about this on the nightly news the last couple days, why did John think he could convert a tribe who have been isolated from the world for all these years. I think this is a very tricky situation about the safety of the tribe and Chau's body. I hope they figure out a way to benefit both of them. Also how come the people that took Chau over to the island not get attacked. - Joziah German
ReplyDeleteThis is really unsettling to me, I don't understand why someone would be so stupid as to try to change and threaten the existence of the tribe and its culture. Of course, it is sad that the man has died, but is one man worth more than a whole tribe? This whole situation is a mess!
ReplyDeleteKadar Price: This just goes to show that if you don't set realistic goals, it will be the end of you.
ReplyDelete