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American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island

nytimes.com

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Re: American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island

#31

Post by Apocryphon »

stock_toaster wrote: post #19
Apocryphon wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One man's delusion is another's deliverance. Some may snicker of Darwin Awards and all that, but this man died in a misguided and naive attempt to do good, not to exploit or harm anyone. I'm sure his family and friends feel terribly bad about this tragedy.

> not to exploit or harm anyone Isolated tribes often do not have the same built up immunities to common diseases. It may not have been intentional, but he could very well have killed them all, regardless of his motives.

"Ignorant" is another descriptor that should be applied to his actions.

Re: American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island

#32

Post by throwaway5752 »

"The 27-year-old American, identified as John Allen Chau, came to India on a tourist visa but came to the Andaman and Nicobar islands in October with the express purpose of proselytizing, Dependra Pathak, Director General of Police of the Andaman and Nicobar islands, told CNN. "We refuse to call him a tourist. Yes, he came on a tourist visa but he came with a specific purpose to preach on a prohibited island," Pathak said. Chau did not inform the police of his intentions to travel to the island to attempt to convert its inhabitants."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/21/asia/andaman-nicobar-us-missi...

Re: American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island

#33

Post by Jtsummers »

classicsnoot wrote: post #20
runjake wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Murderers" is in the eye of the beholder. From their perspective, they are defending their land and people from invaders.

I wonder if your generosity in interpretation extends to modern cultures and their borders.

By "modern" I'll interpret that to mean "a nation generally participating in the global community":

I'd say, they have every right to defend their borders from invaders. But they also have knowledge that these islanders don't have. They have an understanding that outsiders are not all belligerent and to be feared or non-entities to be killed (though some will act counter to that knowledge, see the stoked fear in the US about the migrant caravan, or the way North Korea treats many outsiders). So it's easier to cast judgment on "modern" nations and cultures who kill on sight, because they really should know better and be better able to discern true threats from mere nuisances.

Re: American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island

#34

Post by tfha »

xutopia wrote: post #23

I'm fascinated by these people. They must have one heck of a culture to immediately resort to killing any stranger that lands on their shore. I wonder what religious beliefs they have and what kind of society creates what seems to be extreme and violent xenophobia to us. As fascinated as I am I would double check that I have something to row with if I take a motorboat out to see the island from afar. No way in hell I…

They have to protect themselves from disease. If the wrong microbe makes contact, it could result in genocide.

Re: American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island

#35

Post by koolba »

xutopia wrote: post #23

I'm fascinated by these people. They must have one heck of a culture to immediately resort to killing any stranger that lands on their shore. I wonder what religious beliefs they have and what kind of society creates what seems to be extreme and violent xenophobia to us. As fascinated as I am I would double check that I have something to row with if I take a motorboat out to see the island from afar. No way in hell I…

If past contacts lead to major disease outbreaks that’d be one hell of an incentive to kill intruders on sight. That’s a short story to pass on to the next generation as well.

Re: American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island

#36

Post by JPKab »

deanCommie wrote: post #12

> Mr. Pathak said Mr. Chau, believed to be 26 or 27 and from Washington State, may have been trying to convert the islanders to Christianity. Right before he left in his kayak, Mr. Chau gave the fishermen a long note. In it, police officials said, he had written that Jesus had bestowed him with the strength to go to the most forbidden places on Earth. A perfect storm of Christian and American arrogance.

Please explain to me how the fact that he happens to be American is proven to be causal here?

I guess you make a good point. After all, the missionaries who converted indigenous populations all over the world were all from the USA. Oh wait, no. The vast majority of the Christian missions were founded by Europeans. Arabs converted millions to Islam hundreds of years ago.

But yeah, they were all infected with American arrogance.

Re: American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island

#37

Post by em3rgent0rdr »

option_greek wrote: post #4

As horrific as it may sound, I hope his rotting body won't make the islanders sick. Human contact in the past had wiped out some of the Andaman tribes due to the lack of resistance to many diseases.

"According to health professionals, the fear of spread of disease by bodies killed by trauma rather than disease is not justified. Among others, Steven Rottman, director of the UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters, said that no scientific evidence exists that bodies of disaster victims increase the risk of epidemics, adding that cadavers posed less risk of contagion than living people."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_risks_from_dead_bodies

Re: American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island

#38

Post by projectramo »

The comments here are horrific.

Yes, I don't think we should invade the lives of indigenous people any more than you do. And yes, I think this young man was mistaken and misguided.

But, he went in with the best of intentions, and he died. You just don't believe what he did. Imagine a techie died while trying to teach rails to the homeless (which, I can only assume, some of you might be more sympathetic towards), would you feel the same way?

Edit: p.s. The rails thing is a joke, but not the rest of it.

Re: American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island

#39

Post by lightbyte »

tfha wrote: post #34
xutopia wrote: post #23

I'm fascinated by these people. They must have one heck of a culture to immediately resort to killing any stranger that lands on their shore. I wonder what religious beliefs they have and what kind of society creates what seems to be extreme and violent xenophobia to us. As fascinated as I am I would double check that I have something to row with if I take a motorboat out to see the island from afar. No way in hell I…

They have to protect themselves from disease. If the wrong microbe makes contact, it could result in genocide.

Do they actually know that though?

Re: American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island

#40

Post by whatshisface »

quicklime wrote: post #30
whatshisface wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least one of them deserves to get sick, they did kill someone after all. You could argue that it's not wrong to kill if you don't have any treaties between your respective states but then it wouldn't be wrong to spread disease either.

The few contacts that the North Sentinelese have had with the outside world have often resulted in kidnappings, death and disease being bought into the island. Given the few data points they have, it seems reasonable for them to want to avoid any further foreign contact.

They were armed combatants and the person they killed was a civilian. I can think of loads of people that I could shoot with a bow to protect my interests, and the fact that I have not signed any treaties to not do it doesn't mean I can.
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