development are justifiable under international law, and whether development should be rejected by or imposed on “uncontacted groups” such as the Sentinelese and indigenous tribes such as the Nukak<sup>14</sup> and the Maasai,<sup>15</sup> we need to identify who qualifies as an indigenous group, as well as the protections that exist under both national and international law for these populations.

# _Indigenous Groups and Legal Protections_

Indigenous people in the world number about 476 million across 90 countries, consist of about 6 percent of the global population and together speak over 4,000 of the world’s 7,000 languages.<sup>16</sup> Curiously, despite these statistics, there is no formally accepted definition for the term “indigenous people.”<sup>17</sup> The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples does not adopt a definition for indigenous people on the basis that self-identification is critical to a person’s status as a member of an indigenous group and is fundamental to the right of self-determination. It defers to the group itself to determine their own identity and membership based on their identities and beliefs.<sup>18</sup> Most commonly, however, indigenous people are identifiable by their unique traditions, languages, practices, and beliefs, and their retention of social, cultural, economic, and political characteristics distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live.

The Sentinelese<sup>19</sup> are an indigenous community and arguably the most isolated tribe in the world. They are estimated to number between 50 and 200<sup>20</sup> people, and occupy the North Sentinel Island, one of the Andaman Islands in one of the eight Union Territories of India. For over 55,000 years, they have forcefully resisted contact from the outside world and succeeded in not falling victim to colonial and imperial expansion. They maintain a paleolithic lifestyle. Due to their peculiar practices and way of life, they have been described as “the world's last and most isolated stone age tribe,”<sup>21</sup> as well as “socially and economically backward.”<sup>22</sup> The lifestyle of the Sentinelese conforms to neither the Western model of modernity nor the lifestyle of the majority of the Indian population. At their insistence, the Sentinelese have mostly remained undisturbed by the international community and local people. While many people support this stance, there have also been calls for the state of India to interfere with their way of life in order to, at the very least, incorporate them into national life.

> 14 Survival International, _Nukak_ , https://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/nukak (last visited Dec 12, 2023).

> 15 Survival International, _Maasai,_ <u>https://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/maasai</u> (last visited Aug 27, 2024). 16 ‘Indigenous peoples rights are human rights’, Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we- <u>do/indigenous peoples/</u> (last visited Apr 18, 2024)., Indigenous Peoples, World Bank, https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/indigenouspeoples (last visited Apr 18, 2024). About indigenous peoples and human rights, OHCHR, https://www.ohchr.org/en/indigenous-peoples/about-indigenous-peoples-and-human-rights (last visited Apr 18, 2024).

> 17 About indigenous peoples and human rights, _supra_ note 14.

> 18 Art. 33 of the UNDRIP. ‘Indigenous peoples rights are human rights’, Amnesty International, _supra_ note 16.

> 19 Also known as the Sentineli. The Last and Most Isolated Stone Age Tribe in the World', <u>https://greekreporter.com/2023/01/25/last-most-isolated-stone-age-tribe-world/</u>

> 20 Adam Goodheart, 2023. ‘Why Uncontacted Tribes Want to Stay Uncontacted’, _The Atlantic,_ <u>https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/north-sentinel-island-tribes-maurice-vidal-portman/675563/BBC</u> ‘American 'killed in India by endangered Andamans tribe'’, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46286215 (Some projections have numbered the Sentinelese are low as 15 or as high as 500). _See_ Survival International, _Sentinelese_ , https://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/sentinelese (last visited May 3, 2023).

21 ‘The Last and Most Isolated Stone Age Tribe in the World', https://greekreporter.com/2023/01/25/last-most- <u>isolated-stone-age-tribe-world/</u> (last visited May 3, 2024).

> 22 _Id._

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