Andaman & Nicobar Islands are the abode of probably the most primitive tribes of the world. Out of the 6 aboriginal tribes inhabiting these Islands five, namely, the Shompens, the Onges, the Great Andamanese, the Sentinelese and the Jarawas are primitive tribes. These primitive tribes especially the Sentinelese, the Jarawas, The Onge, The Great Andamanese and the Shompens were the sole inhabitants of the Andaman Islands until the Danish and British arrived in the eighteenth and mid-nineteenth century. These tribes are believed to have been living here for 60,000 years. These primitive tribes have been living in isolation with each other; that is the reason why language of one tribe is not understood by another.
The Shompens are Mongoloids and inhabit the Great Nicobar Island whereas the other four primitive tribes are Negritos inhabiting the Andaman Islands. All the tribals are non-vegetarians.
To prevent the primitive tribes from the exploitation by the outsiders the area inhabited by the primitive tribes has been declared as tribal reserve area. Entry into the reserve area without permission is liable for punishment with imprisonment and fine. Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS) , an autonomous body set up in 1976 looks after the welfare of these primitive tribes.
Total Tribal Population :
Jarawa = 266
Shompens = 200
Onge = 97
Great Andamanese = 53
Sentinelese = 100
Nicobarese = 27000
1. Great Andamanese :
Great Andamanese inhabit the 'Strait Island' located 53 nautical miles from Port Blair towards the east. The Great Andamanese are a negrito tribe. The Great Andamanese tribe was killed in large numbers by the British during their occupation of the Andaman Islands, There population at that time was estimated to be above 6000. One such event known as the 'Battle of Aberdeen' killed thousands of Great Andamanese in a single day. Due to their decreasing population the Andaman and Nicobar Administration decided to colonize the tribes on isolated Strait island. Their population has grown to a number of 43 at present from a lowest known low of 10 in past. Since Andaman group of Island is very accessible, the culture of Great Andamanese is greatly affected by outside modern world. The popularity of Hindi movies and film-stars is one such example of outside influence. In spite of the all influences they still have retained much of their traditional cultures and customs. They are superstitious, for instance they believe that by chopping palm leaves into the sea water they are able to keep the sea storms away.
The Great Andamanese are good artisans and they are comfortable with both traditional and modern tools. They prepare their own ornaments, baskets, tools and Earthen pots. The ornaments they wear is made up of leaves, barks, and shells which is worn during traditional functions and dances. They have their own system and practice of medicine for instance for chronic back aches they pierce their body with a small piece of glass in a belief that it will drain off the bad blood from the person and thus relieve him/her from the pain. Before the advent of glass pointed stones were used for the purpose of piercing.
The new generation is sent to school and few of the local youth have been absorbed into Govt. jobs in the Island itself.
The tribes of the Little Andaman are the Onges, the Jarawas from the interior of the South Andaman, (the outer group as they are referred to sometimes) and the Sentinalese of the North Sentinel island, not to be confused with the Great Andamanese tribes. Ten in number, Aka-Cari, Aka-Kora, Aka-Bo and Aka-Jero and Aka-Kede form the Yerewa group from the northern parts of Andamans, and the Bojigngiji group consisting of Aka- Juwai, Aka-Kol, Aka-Bojigyab, Aka Balawa and Aka Bea from the South Andamans (Temple, 1903).
Most of these names of the tribes/ languages are words from common day-to day life of the people, like for instance, Jero means 'canoe', Bea means 'fresh water', Bojigyab means 'speech-language', Juwai is 'pattern on arrows', while Kol means 'bitter/ salty' and all these words signify roughly the same sense in all these ten dialects/ languages. Aka- means 'tribe/ language' while -da is a suffix which is added to a noun when in isolation.
1901 Census figures indicate a total of 625 Great Andamanese with the largest number, 218 from the Jero tribe. In 1921 these figures came down to 209 out of a total of 786, and 460 in all reported in 1931, out of which 90 were the great Andamanese. In 1949 the Forest Department tried to bring them together and settle them at the Bluff island, but because of their nomadic nature and different habits, these tribes did not stay together for long. In 1969 the A & N Administration offered to help them if they stayed in Strait island. By this time, they were too few, only 23 in all, and probably thought it wise to accept the offer and stay together.
Very soon they all spoke one language which is Jero, with some words from the languages of the other tribes completely assimilated in Jero language. Since then their numbers have increased from 26 (1961 census), 23 (1971), 42 (21 males and 21 females) in the year 1981. The 1991 census shows their population as 47 and in 2001 census the figure is 43 (24 males and 19 females). Post Tsunami, all 43 have been reported safe. The numbers have mostly increased as a result of mixed marriages, since these people are free to mix with the people of the mainland, and have adapted to their way of life, speak Port Blair Hindi, dress like them, eat their kind of food, some of them have contractual jobs with the A&N administration, and it is not surprising at all that the younger generation does not know more than a few words of their language. Some of them do not know any Jero at all since most often they also communicate with each other in Local Andaman Hindi. The younger people like to spend maximum time in Port Blair at Adi Basera which is the base camp for the tribals provided by the A&N administartion
2. Jarawa :
Jarawa tribes were once the most feared tribals among all the aborigines of these Island group till 1995-96. Jarawa's are 'Negriod' tribes - They are short heighted and dark in colour. The term "Jarawa" is coined by the Great Andamanese people which means "The other People" because Jarawa's never had friendly relationship with the Great Andamanese.
Jarawa's live in so called "protected areas" in Middle Andaman, South Andaman and Interview Island. The Jarawas are excellent craftsmen as evidenced by the skill of making various metal tools and arrows. They are fond of red clothes though majority of them are found nude. As for food they are non-vegetarians and they mostly eat pork. It is known that the Jarawas do not kill deers for food. Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS) looks after all their basic needs like food, health and housing.
They were very hostile in past and were known to attack with poisonous arrows. Every year during 1980's there were confirmed reports of villagers and workers been killed by Jarawa arrows. Various human expeditions by contact teams consisting of officals of Tribal welfare and anthropological society were undertaken in past near the interview island, where the team left eatables, red cloth, coconuts and plastic goods as gifts for the Jarawas.
All the description is now a recent past as now they have developed the understanding that the other fair skinned humans are not their enemies. With friendly contacts it was learnt that lots of negative details painted about them were untrue - few of them being : they eat human flesh, their sweat and saliva is poisonous etc.
As per government policies the entry into their area is forbidden. This is done to avoid their exposure to the outside world to and save them from the diseases from which they dont have natural immunity and other exploitations that may happen over time. Isolation will also help to retain their ancient culture. The "isolation" though is under constant threat due to the presence of outsiders in their area. The Andaman Trunk road passing though the South Andaman, Baratang and Middle Andaman runs deep within the Jarawa protected area. Daily hundreds of vehicles pass through the road thereby providing ample oppurtunities for both Jarawas and outsiders to interact with each other. Initially the travelers gave biscuits, fruits and other eatables to the Jarawa's and in return Jarawas allowed them to be photographed. Since 2002 when the Baratang Island limestone caves and the Mud volcano were opened for tourists, many tour operators have started a practice of selling 'Jarawa Sighting' tour packages. Photography inside the Jarawa reserve area is forbidden by law. A handful of police personal [locally called bush police] are deputed to ensure the isolation of Jarawas but the small number of police personal is not suficient to monitor the entire traffic along the Andaman Trunk Road.
3. Onge :
The Onge's are a negrito tribe residing in Little Andaman. According to 1971 census they were 117 in number which have shown little variation till then. They live at 2 different colonies : ' South Bay ' and ' DugongCreek ' in Little Andaman. South Bay is accessible via land route passing through Harminder Bay which is only a few kilometres away from Hutbay - the main market place of Little Andaman. Official permission is required to enter the Onge reserved area. The best vehicle to reach South Bay is a Tractor as there is no defined roadway. Dugong creek is an isolated settlement accessible only by water route. Dugong Creek settlement suffered severe damages in the 2004 Tsunami.
While the Onge men go out to the forest for hunting , the women will stay back at home and search the local area for roots and tubers under the soil. They have little interest in cultivation as agriculture was unknown to them before contact with modern world. Few years ago they never boiled their food because the concept of cooking was unknown to them. They use bows and arrows to catch fish along the shallow sea coasts. The fishing line and fishing net is still not popular among them. The local delicacy is honey : The Onges rub some special herbs to avoid the bee stings while they collect the honey from the hives. Hair dressing is done with the help of sea shells as razors and they paint their face / body with white clay.
The Onge children now go to school and they speak Hindi. The Department of agriculture has helped them to raise local crops and huge coconuts plantations. Tobacco and alcohol is very popular among the Onge, which was readily accepted by them as gift from outside world. An incident of death of 8 male Onge is reported in December 2008 (8 Dead and 15 hospitalised), when they consumed some toxic fluid assuming it as alcohol.
4. Shompen :
Shompen reside in the interiors of Great Nicobar Island (Southern-most piece of land belonging to India). The total population of Shompens is estimated to be 214 whereas during 1901 Census the population recorded was 348 approximately. They are of medium height with Mongoloid features. They were believed to be hostile earlier but in recent decades they have not shown any hostility and now have established trade relations with Nicobarese. The main activities of Shompens are hunting, food-gathering (They collect wild yams, roots, fruit, honey and insect larvae) and fishing. They love to hunt pig with their spears and they take help of pet dogs while hunting. . They are nomads and wander from place to place within the jungles. They live in self-made huts. They are shy in nature and avoid to interact with others. Administration provides them free food, utensils, drinking water and medical facilities. A school is present near their area to impart formal as well as non-formal education. The Shompen, who according to 1991 census, are only 131 in number, are found to reside in the Great Nicobar Island which has an area of 865 Sq km. The island is hilly in terrain with full of vegetation. According to Man (1886) the Shompen are the original inhabitants of the Great Nicobar but later on they were pushed to the interior part of the island. According to Kloss (1903) the Shompens are an isolated group of primitive Malayans'. The existence of this tribe was first reported by Pastor Rosen, a Danish missionary in 1831 but Admiral Steen Bille was the first person to pay a visit in this area. Later on in 1881, Frederik Adolph de Roepstorff accompanied by Col. Cadell, Chief Commissioner visited the area and found the Shompen. E.H. Man, met these people in 1884. Later on these tribal people were visited by different people. The Shompen settlements are generally irregular in shape, and they prefer to build these either on the slopes of the hill or at the bottom of a valley The village is normally situated near some water source. The east coast Shompen prefer the interior and the slopes of the hills while the west-coast Shompen prefer the interior and the slopes of hills for their settlement. The houses are normally rectangular or square with a gabled roof. The economy of the Shompen is based on gathering, hunting and fishing. They also spend some of their times for pig rearing.
Shompen males often visit Campbell Bay to barter various products they collect, especially wild honey. Sometimes, they go there to collect ration (they are not dependent on ration) which they bring to their village. The Shompens feel happy to remain undisturbed in their habitat.
5. Sentinelese
: The Sentinelese are 'negroid' tribe and they inhabit the small North Sentinel Island (North Sentinel - Area: ~60 sq. km.) The sentinel islanders i.e. the Sentinelese because of the geographical separation from other islands have maintained strict isolation from rest of the world. In fact they are currently the only known Primitive people known in the world to live in complete isolation.
They are very hostile to outsiders and do not allow anybody to enter the North Sentinel Island and therefore not much is known about them. The attack with their self made bows and spears, which they otherwise use for fishing and hunting the wild pigs. Their population is an estimated value of about 100 based on the photographs and assessment of the contact teams sent periodically by Andaman and Nicobar administration. The contact teams usually consists of Officials from Directorate of Tribal welfare and anthropological scientists.
Sentinelese fish in the coastal waters with bows and arrows and hunt wild pigs available on North Sentinel island. Sentinelese use small canoes (boats) made by digging wooden logs. They do not know about using oars for their canoes and only use long poles to propel. The movement of their canoes are therefore restricted to shallow waters only. The Sentinelese do not use any covering (read clothes) over their bodies [both men and women are naked].
6. Nicobarese :
The Nicobarese have Mongloid features and they are a large population of over 27,000 (2001 census). They are horticulturist and pig-herders inhabiting large permanent villages mostly close to sea shore. They are not divisible into tribes, but there are territorial distinctions. Thus they may be fairly divided into six groups : the people of Car Nicobar, Chowra, Teressa with Bompoka, the Central Group, the Southern Group and the single inland tribe of the Shompen on Great Nicobar. The differences to be observed is language, customs, manners and physiognomy of the several groups may, with some confidence, be referred to habitat and the physical difficulties of communication. Nicobari Families are patriarchal and as a rule live jointly. This joint family is known as Tuhet. There is no individual ownership, but the Tuhet owns land, coconut and pigs. Love marriage is very common and the age of marriage is sufficiently high. The chief article of food is the coconut, next in importance been Pandanus pulp , fish and rice.
Source:-
http://www.exploreandaman.com/tribal.php
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