A trailer for a new documentary about missionary John Chau‘s journey to the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean to evangelize the indigenous community has sparked criticism and disdain in some corners of social media.
Critics argue that “The Mission” portrays the Christian preacher as a martyr or saint while failing to acknowledge his role as a colonizer who showed little regard for the cultural and belief system of the North Sentinelese people.
Chau’s second attempt to reach the people is at the crux of the film. On November 17, 2018, the 26-year-old stepped on the island’s beach believing his God told him to convert the tribe to Christianity.
He wrote in his diary about his quest, “Satan has possession of these people and I am going to save them from eternal hellfire.”
His desire to do this was at all costs — including losing his life.
The trailer features interviews with John Chau’s friends praising his bravery and character. However, on social media, many took offense at portraying him positively, as he entered the community without respecting their faith, attempting to impose his beliefs on the indigenous people.
One person noted, “There is a new documentary trying to portray John Chau as a hero and a martyr for his attempt to ‘spread the gospel’ to the Black people of North Sentinel Island. He is no hero. The native people smelled the scent of colonization when he showed up, and they sent him packing… .”
There is a new documentary trying to portray John Chau as a hero and a martyr for his attempt to “spread the gospel” to the Black people of North Sentinel Island. He is no hero. The native people smelled the scent of colonization when he showed up, and they sent him packing-
— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) November 19, 2023
FOR… pic.twitter.com/V0YQ1j20JT
“Ge committed a crime to do it,” one person added. “He paid off locals from the mainland to take him there. They actually went to jail for it. Not because John died but bc they put the people on the island at risk by taking him there. John Chau could have wiped out that entire ethnic group,” the user added, referring to isolated peoples’ vulnerability to diseases introduced by outsiders.
Imposing ones culture on another is rarely accepted peacefully.
— Anthony Mountjoy (@asmotek) November 19, 2023
The island, which is governed by the Indian government, has been practically untouched by modernity since the early 1900s, leaving the tribe’s population at about 200.
Vishvajit Pandya, an Indian anthropologist, explains that the community was not always “uncontacted” or “isolated” until contacted by Europeans.
“There were never any isolated communities on these islands. That’s the biggest myth. This idea that you can go off and discover an ‘uncontacted’ tribe [is] b–llshit. It’s the white man’s burden again and again,” he said in an interview with The Telegraph.
He also noted that in Chau’s zeal to introduce Christianity to the group, he broke international law, bribing local fishermen to sneak past coast guard patrols to get on the shore.
Saying, “He saw himself as a great hero bringing the voice of Christ – I mean, get a life! Let’s treat human beings as human beings. This idea that these people live without a sense of history…”
The scholar’s biggest takeaway for the community was that the people “may not be un-contacted, but they are unconquered.”
