John Allen Chau, 26, is believed to have been hit with a volley of arrows and killed on Friday shortly after making land on North Sentinel Island, part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
A statement attributed to his family posted on his purported Instagram account said that Chau "had nothing but love for the Sentinelese people".
Yesterday the world was shocked to hear about the death of the American tourist/missionary John Allen Chau at the hands of native people on North Sentinel Island. "We are handling the case with utmost sensitivity towards this human treasure", he said.
Police have roped in field experts including Indian anthropologists, and tribal welfare and forest officers to help them tackle the situation.
Visitation to North Sentinel Island is heavily restricted by the Indian government and contact with the Sentinelese tribe who lives there is illegal to protect their indigenous way of life and prevent the spread of diseases. Those who attempt to take photos, stay on the other side of the shore or from the air.
"He invited that aggression", PC Joshi, professor of social anthropology at Delhi University in India's capital, told The Associated Press news agency.
Casey Prince, 39, declined to discuss what Chau told him about his upcoming travel plans, saying he would rather talk about the kind of man his friend was. "A simple thing like flu may kill them because they are not immune to anything".
That night, he wrote about his visit and left his notes with the fishermen.
Just a day later, Mr Chau was killed after setting out to the island for one last time.
Authorities say Chau arrived in the area on October 16 and stayed in a hotel while he prepared to travel to the island.
Police arrested seven fishermen accused of helping Mr Chau reach the protected island. A source told AFP, "He was attacked by arrows but he continued walking".
The fishermen said they used "a wooden boat fitted with motors to travel to the island on November 15", Pathak said.
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Providing a brief description about the moment he was initially shot at, Chau said, I heard the whoops and shouts from the hunt.
Also, Chau appeared to be full of confidence as he wrote in his notes, "God sheltered him from coastguard and Navy", he said.
"Words can not express the sadness we have experienced about this report", his family said in a statement posted on his Instagram account.
A spokesperson for the U.S. consulate in the southern Indian city of Chennai told AFP they were aware of "reports concerning a USA citizen in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands".
"He ventured out on his own free will and his local contacts need not be persecuted for his own actions", the family said. The 27-year-old was out on exploration to the cut-off island when he succumbed to injuries caused by arrows of the Sentinelese tribe.
The fishermen then informed John's friend Alexander about the same and handed him the 13 pages of the journal written by John, as instructed. Another trip was planned on November 22.
India has a hands-off approach to the island's people.
There is also a possibility that the islanders were angry that he had set foot on the island by bribing fishermen to ferry him through.
India recently changed some of its rules on visiting isolated regions in the Andamans. The source said Chau had taken scissors, safety pins and a football as gifts to the tribe to try and establish a rapport. Chau went through that program in 2015.
On The Outbound Collective, Chau had posted about his overseas adventures, saying he loved "to explore, so whether it's trekking through dense old growth forests near the Chilliwack River (on the USA border with Canada), finding a rumored waterfall in the jungles of the Andamans, or just wandering around a city to get a feel for the vibes, I'm an explorer at heart". Excerpts from his journal entries accessed by media also show that he was aware that he may be killed on his mission to preach Christianity to the Sentinelese.
Mr. Staver said Chau's last notes to his family on November 16 told them that they might think he was insane but that he felt it was worth it and asked that they not be angry if he was killed. Phone messages left with relatives were not immediately returned Wednesday.
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