Social media influencers have been accused of various tourism faux pas, from causing mass influxes of visitors, to going to extreme lengths to create content, and now a US tourist has been censured for trying to force contact with one of the world’s last “uncontacted” tribes.
The 24-year-old American, named Mykhailo Viktorovych Polya, allegedly made an illegal voyage to North Sentinel Island, an Indian territory that is part of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, over 1200 km east of the mainland. A fisherman is reported to have seen him returning from the island that is home to the reclusive Sentinelese tribe, and police arrested him two days later, seizing an inflatable boat and motor, according to Jitendra Kumar Meena, head of the Andaman and Nicobar Police’s Criminal Investigations Department, speaking to CNN.
Polya had apparently embarked on the journey to North Sentinel from a South Andaman beach about 40 km away, having researched and attempted the ill-advised adventure on two previous trips that were thwarted by hotel staff.
#Internacionales
— El Clarín (@SVElClarin) April 3, 2025
La policía de la India anunció el arresto de Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, estadounidense de 24 años, que llego a la isla Sentinel del Norte con un coco y una lata de gaseosa para contactar con una tribu aislada del mundo. pic.twitter.com/nWWGXtPWQH
Indian law forbids travel to North Sentinel and all contact with its Sentinelese people, who lack immunity to diseases outsiders may carry. The tribe is one of about 100 remaining around the globe to have had hardly any contact beyond their own society. The population of unknown size is named by Survival International as the most isolated community in the world.
Polyakov is reported to have blown a whistle from his inflatable some distance away from the shore, to attract the tribe’s attention. This failed, but police found material on his GoPro that shows he then landed, left some soft drinks as gifts, and recorded footage of himself on the island.
🚨🇮🇳U.S. TOURIST ARRESTED AFTER ILLEGAL TRIP TO SENTINELESE ISLAND WITH CAN OF COKE
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 3, 2025
An American tourist has been arrested in India after sneaking onto North Sentinel Island—a restricted tribal reserve—and leaving a can of Coca-Cola and a coconut as “offerings” to the… pic.twitter.com/atB3Fgh7jY
Caroline Pearce, the non-profit’s director, denounced Polyakov’s alleged attempt to contact the Sentinelese as “reckless and idiotic” adding in a statement that he “put the lives of the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk.” The charity now fears that other social media influencers will think they too can try the same thing.
He also endangered his own existence, since the Sentinelese are fiercely protective of their way of life, having killed the last person known to have attempted contact, American missionary John Chau, in 2018. They also fired arrows at a helicopter that tried to check their wellbeing after the 2004 Asian tsunami, and have killed poachers that drifted into their fishing waters.
Indian authorities are duty-bound to protect the islanders and have remanded Polyakov in custody. The US has said it is aware of the situation and is monitoring developments.
