Today, I found somebody defending the honour of the Sentinelese on Wikipedia, and wanted to share.
Good Day, Fellow Editors--
I got to thinking about the name of this article, and I think it could be problematic. The people who inhabit North Sentinel island surely do not call themselves "North Sentinelese" or even "Sentinelese" altogether.
Shouldn't this article's name instead refer to the people who inhabit the place, instead of naming the people after the place? Naming people after the place they inhabit reeks of colonialism. In the United States, for example, it is increasingly common to refer to indigenous peoples by the names they use, not the names assigned to them by colonial powers. (I.E., typing "Chippewa" into Wikipedia's search bar appropriately redirects to the article "Ojibwe".)
Obviously, the People inhabiting North Sentinel Island have not told the outside world what they call themselves--if they refer to themselves as any proper noun at all--but we still owe them respect in our academic circles by naming them in a respectful manner. This also has the peripheral benefit of increasing familiarity with contemporary naming conventions.
I therefore propose to rename this article: "Peoples of North Sentinel Island" and remove all references to "Sentinelese," "North Sentinelese," etc.
I don't ordinarily make substantive contributions to Wikipedia; please let me know your thoughts and be constructive in your critcism.
Best, [Redacted]
There is no colonialism in the use of the name "Sentinelese." It is the world's tolerance for their culture of killing and crucifying anyone who steps foot on their island that ensures that we might never know what they call themselves. Replacing that name with the pointlessly wordy "Peoples of North Sentinel Island" does nothing for the Sentinelese or for the utility of Wikipedia, and this person only wants to do it to show they're an ally to people who would murder them on principle if they were foolish enough to offer their friendship in person.
The fact that their existence and independence is protected puts them among the most respected people on earth.
Normally, a people's respect is tied to their wealth, their ability to defend their land, and their ability to project force beyond it.
The Sentinelese have zero wealth, zero ability to defend their land (killing random unarmed idiots doesn't count), and zero ability to project force beyond it. Logically, they should be conquered. Instead, they are almost uniquely protected, for free, by people advanced literally beyond their comprehension. The world beyond their pathetic Island is a world of Gods, and those Gods allow them to live so that they may peer at them from above, like the contents of petri dish.
Yes, never mind not conquering their lands - not even imposing communication upon them - is a lot of respect to get for absolutely free. Other peoples have to earn such rights, and there is eternal upkeep.
Maybe colonialism had a point
When you put it that way, it's a good argument for the Zoo hypothesis.
Ask them “what is a woman”
Oh good grief! I’m so sick of this outrage over colonialism well after colonies ended.
Anyone who comes to YOUR country and complains that it isn't quite up to THEIR cultural standards/expectations is a colonist (so throw in pretty much every paki that exists. Also the Chinese of Richmond BC.)
Call me crazy but I always figured if I moved to someone else’s country it’s my responsibility to assimilate. I mean when in Rome right?
Colonialism is still around. It just takes the form of funneling "foreign aid" to a local GAE friendly overclass. At least the previous form of colonialism was honest.
Considering they are so inbred and practice bride kidnapping/gang bang marriage, they can stay black to the future.
I mean, not being funny, with a population of maybe 400, for generations ... how are they not supposed to be inbred to fuck by this point?
About the only way you'd avoid total inbreeding there would be if they'd formed two separate, smaller tribes that didn't mix ... with each smaller enclave being even worse.
I've only seen estimates at half that.
North Sentinelese: Taking a stand against globalization for 60,000 years.
Ridiculously, the bio of the author of that ridiculous statement includes:
Self awareness? What's that?
i'M a MoDeRaTe
That island is a fucking public safety risk for shipwreckers, at this point sending in the military to secure the island and kill people until they submit to extremely simple government demands is the best option.
Chimpanzees are more civilized, in that THEY don't automagically kill every human who comes to observe them.
Jane Goodall made a point of describing her first few weeks with the tribe she was to study; the chief could have killed her easily enough, and all chimp research probably would have shut right down (especially after the murder of Fossey, and everyone forgets the Oran-utang "Leaky Lady" exists) - he beat the crap out of her every day until he got bored with it, and the females were satisfied she wasn't going to eat their babies. That's STILL more hospitable than these humans.
Sentinelese aren't people. They're human, but they're not people. They're a perfect example of why human =/= "people". Those words are NOT interchangeable.
i don't care what they call themselves, just like i don't call germany deutschland.
The North Sentinelese won't be offended because:
They don't know about the article or the existence of Wikipedia.
If they did know, they couldn't read it because they don't have internet access, computers, or electricity.
Even if you airdropped printed versions of the article on the island, they couldn't read it because they know any of the languages Wikipedia is available in.
How'd you find this, anyways?
This editor, along with every other high access wikipedia, editor should go ask in person.
Unfathomably based border control experts is what we shall call them from now on.
We should nuke their stupid island