Tribals of A&N islands are in news from time to time. Latest
being killing of an American by Sentinelese.
These islands comprising more than 500 small to big, majority
uninhabited stretch almost 700 kms North South. Indira Point,
southernmost tip is very close To Indonesia & Straight of
Malacca.
Jarawas, Onges, East Andamanese, Nicobaris, Sentinelses and Shompens
are the original tribes of these islands. Shompens are Mongoloid
whereas all others are Negrito origin.
Jarawas Live astride weatern coast of main Andaman island in thickly forested areas with their habitat bounded by
Bush Police, preventing any entry into the tribal area. Jarawas were
hostile to human presence & kept to themselves with hunting and
fishing being primary foods augmented by coconut & forest
produce. Could be spotted by low flying helicopters sitting on beach,
catching fish or swimming across smaller bays. Hutments made of
forest produce were in clusters visible from air. If one flew low,
tribals would shoot arrows. Contact with humans was disliked but was
established in early 80s. However with Andaman Trunk road cutting
across the island,their interaction with humans has become frequent.
East Andamanse & Onges were domesticated way back in 80s.
Onges are in Little Andaman and stay together in a small cluster.
Some of them have even joined Police & Government service. But
majority has become lethargic with beetle nut(supari) about 2 kg per
adult per month being consumed.
Nicobarese. Live in Car Nicobar. Were exposed to missionary
exploits very early. Hardy people and very good footballers apart
from good boatsmen. Almost become part of mainstream.
Shompens inhabiting Great Nicobar Island are extremely shy
but quite happy with jungle/tribal life. Their skills with jungle
living and surviving are something we all can imbibe from them. Know
lot about herbs & shrubs and flaura & fauna. Treat to see
them extracting honey from honeycombs.
Sentinelese Live in North Sentinel Island are extremely
ferocious about human endeavour to establish contact & very
little is known about them. Have been known to fire with bows &
arrows to deny access to the island. Its also believed that during
tsunami when Car Nicobar was devastated, Sentinelese moved to higher
reaches in time and suffered no damage. Probably some sixth sense or
other methodology of forewarning.
Should we try to civilise them or let them be? That debate has been
going on since long time and shall continue for more time. However,
seeing civilised Jarawas, asking for tobacco from vehicles driving on
Andaman Trunk road was very sorry state. ( AT road was constructed
with labour from Bihar and other Indian states. Since it was
prolonged construction and manpower intensive. Jarawas slowly
befriended & picked up ills). Or Onges, one has extremely serious
doubts about forcing change in their lifestyles. Probably a
catastrophic blunder. Solution probably lies in controlled access and
harmonising tribals lifestyles with ours and subjecting it to mid
course corrections. Scientific approach under guidance of experts
with studying impact on various facets over a prolonged periods of
time.
Tribal tourism to earn money is an extremely bad idea. Poorly
conceived without experts advise, will lead to disaster.
LET THEM BE. INTERVENE ONLY FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT
