John Allen Chau, 27, was killed on North Sentinel Island, an island that is home to the indigenous Sentinelese people.
Chau had paid local fishermen $325 to organize a way to illegally ferry him to the island.
Visitation to North Sentinel Island is heavily restricted by the Indian government.
According to BBC reports, the tribe is amongst the first people to successfully migrate out of Africa and scientists believe they arrived in the region about 60,000 years ago.
A police source told Reuters that Chau had visited the area in the past and had a strong desire to meet the tribe.
Dependra Pathak is the director of India’s Andaman & Nicobar Police. He read in a statement that it appears Chau reached the island with the help of a “local friend” and 6 other men. “Despite knowing fully well about the illegality of the action and the hostile attitude of the Sentinelese tribesmen to the outsiders, these people collaborated with John Chau for this visit to North Sentinel Island without any permission from the authorities”.
The group left for the remote islands around 8 p.m. on Nov. 14, Chau then travelled alone to the island the next morning.
Once he set foot on shore, he was “attacked by arrows but he continued walking”, according to sources.
“The fishermen saw the tribals tying a rope around his neck and dragging his body”
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