this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2025
148 points (97.4% liked)

And Finally...

1459 readers
121 users here now

A place for odd or quirky world news stories.

Elsewhere in the Fediverse:

Rules:

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

In short:

Indian police have arrested an American man who visited a restricted island and left offerings to a tribe not contacted by the modern world.

Mykhailo Polyakov had previously made two unsuccessful attempts to reach North Sentinel Island, home of the Sentinelese people.

What's next?

Local authorities say he has been released on a three-day remand "for further interrogation".

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

When some members of the Pintupi tribe in Australia heard rumours of several "lost" brethren in the outback, separated for decades since the tribe's forced removal to clear an area for missile testing, and wanted to re-establish relations with them (consensually, without the force typically imposed on them in the past), the one opening gift they immediately thought of?

Sugar. Mind-blowingly sweet sugar.

McMahon did not want to put the group under any pressure to join the community, but he witnessed the moment they were persuaded. "It was unthinkable that they would stay out there because the modern world was so seductive. One of the fellows suggested, 'Give them a taste of the sugar and they'll be in for sure.'"

Indeed, the taste of sugar had a big impact on the Pintupi Nine and it is this aspect of their story which now animates them most. "I tasted the sugar, we didn't know what it was, but it was so sweet. I tasted the sugar and it tasted so sweet - like the Kulun Kulun flower. My mother tasted it and it was so sweet. It was good," says Warlimpirrnga.

Source: The day the Pintupi Nine entered the modern world