An American YouTuber has been arrested after allegedly attempting to make contact with one of the world's most isolated tribes by illegally setting foot on a restricted island in the Indian Ocean — and leaving behind a coconut and a can of Diet Coke.
Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, a content creator on YouTube, was arrested after entering the prohibited territory of North Sentinel Island, which is the home of the Sentinelese, an uncontacted tribe believed to number around 150 people, according to People.
Indian law prohibits anyone from traveling within three miles of North Sentinel to protect the tribe's isolation and shield them from exposure to outside diseases.
"The American citizen was presented before the local court after his arrest and is now on a three-day remand for further interrogation," said HGS Dhaliwal, police chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, speaking to AFP.
According to authorities, Polyakov spent about five minutes on the island. He reportedly blew a whistle from a boat offshore for about an hour in an attempt to draw the tribe's attention before going ashore.
Once on land, he left behind a coconut and a can of Diet Coke, took sand samples, and recorded a video before departing.
The incident has drawn sharp criticism from indigenous rights advocates, who warn that such contact could pose grave risks to both outsiders and the Sentinelese people.
“It beggars belief that someone could be that reckless and idiotic. This person’s actions not only endangered his own life, they put the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk,” said Caroline Pearce, director of Survival International, in a statement. “It’s very well known by now that uncontacted peoples have no immunity to common outside diseases like flu or measles, which could completely wipe them out."
The Sentinelese drew global attention in 2018 when they reportedly killed 27-year-old American missionary John Allen Chau after he attempted to approach the island. His body was never recovered, and no investigation was launched due to the island's protected status.
