American missionary killed by tribe on remote Indian island

By Sanjib Kumar Roy

 

FILE PHOTO: A Sentinel tribal man aims with his bow and arrow at an Indian Coast Guard helicopter as it flies over the island for a survey of the damage caused by the tsunami in India's Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, December 28, 2004. REUTERS/Indian Coast Guard/Handout/File Photo

 

PORT BLAIR, India (Reuters) - An American self-styled adventurer and Christian missionary has been killed and buried by a tribe of hunter-gatherers on a remote island in the Indian Ocean where he had gone to proselytize, local law enforcement officials said on Wednesday.

 

John Allen Chau, 26, was slain on North Sentinel Island, which is home to what is considered the last pre-Neolithic tribe in the world and typically out of bounds to visitors, said Dependra Pathak, the director general of police in Andaman and Nicobar.

 

"A murder case has been registered against unknown persons," Pathak said, adding that the local fishermen suspected of illegally ferrying Chau to the 60-square-km (23-square-mile) island had been arrested on separate charges.

 

Chau was killed by members of the Sentinelese community using bows and arrows, according to multiple media accounts.

 

Chau's social media posts identify him as an adventurer and explorer. Responding to a travel blog query about what was on the top of his adventure list, Chau said: "Going back to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India."

 

Chau also said in the blog: "I definitely get my inspiration for life from Jesus."

 

Based on his social media posts, Chau appears to have visited India multiple times in the last few years, exploring and preaching in many parts of southern India.

 

"We recently learned from an unconfirmed report that John Allen Chau was reported killed in India while reaching out to members of the Sentinelese Tribe in the Andaman Islands," members of the Chau family said in a post on his Instagram page.

 

The family described him as a "beloved son, brother and uncle" as well as a Christian missionary, wilderness emergency medical technician, soccer coach and mountaineer.

 

"He loved God, life, helping those in need and had nothing but love for the Sentinelese people," the family said. "We forgive those reportedly responsible for his death. We also ask for the release of those friends he had in the Andaman Islands."

 

The family asked that local contacts not be prosecuted in the case.

 

BURIED IN THE SAND

Police said in a statement that they had launched an investigation into Chau's death after being contacted by the U.S. consulate in the southern Indian city of Chennai.

 

"We are aware of reports concerning a U.S. citizen in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands," a consulate spokeswoman said in an email, but declined to provide further details.

 

Pathak said a Coast Guard vessel with police and experts on the tribe had gone to scout the island and formulate a plan to recover Chau's body. North Sentinel Island is about 50 km (31 miles) west of Port Blair, the capital of the island cluster.

 

Chau made two or three trips to the island by canoe from Nov. 15, making contact with the tribe but returning to his boat, Pathak said.

 

He told the fishermen on Nov. 16 he would not come back from the island and instructed them to return home and pass on some handwritten notes he had made to a friend.

 

The next morning they saw his body being dragged across a beach and buried in the sand, the police chief said, adding: "This was a misplaced adventure in a highly protected area."

 

A source with access to Chau's notes said Chau had taken scissors, safety pins and a football as gifts to the tribe.

 

In his notes, the source said, Chau wrote that some members of the tribe were good to him while others were very aggressive.

 

"I have been so nice to them. Why are they so angry and so aggressive?" the source quoted Chau as saying.

 

The source, who asked not to be named, said Chau wrote that he was "doing this to establish the kingdom of Jesus on the island...Do not blame the natives if I am killed."

 

In 2006, two fishermen who strayed onto the island were killed and their bodies never recovered. An Indian Coast Guard helicopter sent to retrieve the bodies was repelled by a volley of arrows from the community.

 

(Reporting by Sanjib Kumar Roy; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Writing by Euan Rocha and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Gareth Jones and Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-11-22

43 minutes ago, webfact said:

The source, who asked not to be named, said Chau wrote that he was "doing this to establish the kingdom of Jesus on the island...Do not blame the natives if I am killed."

I don't blame the natives either...

RIP..following directions??

 

The tribe should send missionaries to America to show them the way back to the moral high ground.

Well we are always hearing...Jesus saves, well he didnt this time.

Why do some smart <deleted> people think they have the right to try and instil their beliefs on others?

Scissors and safety pins? Converting them to tailors?

Let the natives live in peace.

I read of these self contained, indigenous tribes around the world, many in Brazil which are supposedly about to get wiped out as a result of the new right wing President-elect Jair Bolsonarno.

I'm sure many of these tribes could teach us a thing or two about living in peace and harmony.

Perhaps some of the tribe have visited "the outside world" and returned to tell of the horrors of modernized society.

 

As for the "American missionary", he knew that his trip was likely to not end well.

Praise the Lord!

sainthood?

I recall a story about a guy who jumped into a lion's enclosure in Kiev zoo, claiming 'if god exists, he will protect me'. He didn't survive and more than ever I believe in lions!

 

When global warming, plastic pollution, air pollution and all the other horrors that the civilised world is inflicting, finally destroys the planet we call home, it will be the 'uncivilized tribes' such as these that will survive and start over.

 

I hope they make a better job of it next time around.

Edited November 22, 20187 yr by Moonlover

3 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

I recall a story about a guy who jumped into a lion's enclosure in Kiev zoo, claiming 'if god exists, he will protect me'. He didn't survive and more than ever I believe in lions!

 

When global warming, plastic pollution, air pollution and all the other horrors that the civilised world is inflicting, finally destroys the planet we call home, it will be the 'uncivilized tribes' such as these that will survive and start over.

 

I hope they make a better job of it next time around.

Agreed but whatever it is that wipes out the civilized world will in all likelihood wipe out these innocent tribes as well.

 

(They must be totally miffed about that hard white stuff that they are finding in the bellies of their "catch of the day")

6 minutes ago, AGareth2 said:

sainthood?

The requirements for sainthood are somewhat Byzantine, but they certainly do not include doing something as daft as this!

 

Actually martyrdom is more appropriate, although, again, their is a considerable difference between being martyred as a result of deliberate persecution and being killed because you antagonised indigenous tribes people.

12 minutes ago, neeray said:

Agreed but whatever it is that wipes out the civilized world will in all likelihood wipe out these innocent tribes as well.

 

(They must be totally miffed about that hard white stuff that they are finding in the bellies of their "catch of the day")

Possibly not these guys, because rising sea levels may well engulf their islands. Aboriginal tribes and Indian tribes of the Amazon rain forests and the likes are the more likely survivors.

Edited November 22, 20187 yr by Moonlover

Come sit around the campfire and I'll tell you stories of Santa Claus...hey buddy, is that a knife?

That's a win/win situation. The missionary can see his god and the natives won't hear about (another) god. Win/Win!

11 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Possibly not these guys, because rising sea levels may well engulf their islands. Aboriginal tribes and Indian tribes of the Amazon rain forests and the likes are the more likely survivors.

In a previous post on this thread, I note that president-elect of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, is threatening their existence. He plans on wholesale deforestation and paving over of their homeland.

Well they did not eat him,unlike missionaries in other parts of

the World,and in the past.these natives don't want "saving",so

please just leave them alone.

regards worgeordie

30 minutes ago, neeray said:

In a previous post on this thread, I note that president-elect of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, is threatening their existence. He plans on wholesale deforestation and paving over of their homeland.

Oh well, We'll have to rely on aboriginals then.

 

Who knows, Papua New Guinea may one day become a 'super power'. 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

An American self-styled adventurer and Christian missionary has been killed and buried by a tribe of hunter-gatherers on a remote island in the Indian Ocean where he had gone to proselytize,

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Chau wrote that he was "doing this to establish the kingdom of Jesus on the island..

Good.

Excellent news.

He's dead and fully deserving of it.

What gives him the right to preach and invade other people's land & space?

More importantly, i read the report on the BBC website, this religious idiot, a complete ideological numpty, risked destroying these people's immunity system against illnesses and viruses such as flu etc that they have never been in contact with before.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

"I have been so nice to them. Why are they so angry and so aggressive?" the source quoted Chau as saying.

What a surprise!

Who'da thunk it?

You're an invader! An outsider! Dolt. Dead dolt.

21 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Oh well, We'll have to rely on aboriginals then.

 

Who knows, Papua New Guinea may one day become a 'super power'. 

 They'll be rushing into Thailand with the easing of the visa-on-arrival this month.

This is just another example showing the problems related to allowing religion in schools. Kids grow up being brainwashed with this crap about sky-gods, heaven and hell and god will save you from everything.

If you are too dumb to understand science then fall back on religion and other related fairy stories with a bit of kiddy fiddling on the side if you want.

If you put your hand in the fire it's going to get burnt.

Interesting that the Indian Police took no preventative action. It is after all a no-go zone. I guess they figured it would be cheaper to let nature take its course ...

One point worth noting is the commendable policy of the Indian Government which is to respect and, as far as it's possible, to police the isolation of these people.

 

Not all other states would have so well thought out and culturally sensitive policy.

2 hours ago, neeray said:

Let the natives live in peace.

I read of these self contained, indigenous tribes around the world, many in Brazil which are supposedly about to get wiped out as a result of the new right wing President-elect Jair Bolsonarno.

I'm sure many of these tribes could teach us a thing or two about living in peace and harmony.

Perhaps some of the tribe have visited "the outside world" and returned to tell of the horrors of modernized society.

 

As for the "American missionary", he knew that his trip was likely to not end well.

No they have not visited the outside world - they have been living in isolation for many 10 of thousands of years .

They are clinging on- as contact with the outside world a long time ago wiped out thousands as they had no resistance to diseases such as influenza.

it is totally illegal to have any contact whatsoever with the tribe. They possess no modern technology.

 

Not a pleasant way to go being peppered with arrows, but I have no truck with missionaries- and dislike the mostly American missionaries here in Thailand - my god is better than yours( not that there is a god in Buddhism) .

 

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 20187 yr by peterb17
Grammar

It  is one thing when a Christian leads a life of such high moral integrity, kindness, generosity, charity, and joy, that his or her qualities become infectious, and others are inspired to emulate them. But, for a guy to impose his belief system on a native tribe, much less a foreign nation, is something that most of us have zero interest in. So, not a surprise that this guy was taken out.

 

My guess, is that he made quite a nuisance of himself, and did not speak with any kind of realization, truth, authority or compassion. I have often noticed that within a few years of "finding Jesus" that a percentage of believers prefer to spend their time trying to change others, rather than working on themselves, looking within, spending time in contemplation, meditation and prayer, and becoming the example they need to be, to effect any sort of meaningful change on society or those around them. 

 

When I am approached by someone trying to push their religion on me, I ask: tell me about your own realizations. What kind of wisdom have you been able to glean, from the countless hours you are spending in prayer, talking to God, contemplation and deep meditation? What universal knowledge do you have, that you can share with me? Often they will quote scripture. I tell them a parrot can do that. I am asking for some personal realization. It really shuts them up. It never fails to cause them to excuse themselves, and walk away. A truly foolproof technique!

45 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Well they did not eat him

Probably unpalatable...

Leave those people alone, please.  They don't deserve our wars and diseases.

Missionaries who come on to my patch get similar short shrift from me. Unfortunately I can't get away with using bow and arrows.

Edited November 22, 20187 yr by Old Croc

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The source, who asked not to be named, said Chau wrote that he was "doing this to establish the kingdom of Jesus on the island...Do not blame the natives if I am killed."

I don’t. 

 

It was entirely your own fault.