Tribes of Andaman

•  An American national was killed allegedly by the Sentinelese tribe in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands after he illegally entered the protected zone.
• The tragic incident is not the first such attack by the tribe on people from the outside world.

Tribes of Andamans

• Andaman and Nicobar Islands are home to at least six tribes. Of these two are of Mongoloid origin – the Nicobarese and Shompen. The Nicobarese are the most mainstream of all tribes but the Shompen still tend to avoid outsiders.
• The other four tribes -- the Great Andamanese, the Onge, the Jarawas and the Sentinelese -- are of Negrito origin and are still hunter-gatherers. These tribes reached the islands tens of thousands of years ago and remained isolated till the British era.
• It was not until the first European colonialists arrived in the 18th century that the isolation of some of the tribes came to an end, with disastrous consequences in many cases.
• The Great Andamanese, for instance, numbered several thousand but the contact with the colonialists nearly finished them off. Fewer than 100 survive today.

About North Sentinel island:

• It spread across 28 square miles, North Sentinel Island has had little significant contact with the outside world for, perhaps, 60,000 years. Until a few months ago, all travel was banned to the island – for the sake of both the safety of the tourists and the long-term well-being of the island dwellers.
• There has been a debate in recent years on what’s the best way forward to deal with a tribe like this – should they be kept under isolation – left alone, in other words -- or cautious attempts be made to reach out to them?
• Renowned anthropologist TN Pandit and his team played a pivotal role starting from the late 1960s in researching the various tribes and drawing a section of the Sentinelese people away from their bow and arrow ways. He did this by presenting them gifts of coconuts. The policy was partially successful – and controversial.
• But interactions between the tribe and outsiders have led to several unpleasant and violent incidents over the years.
• In 2006, tribesmen killed two fishermen who had illegally entered waters near the island. An attempt by the coast guard to retrieve their bodies by helicopter was also met by a shower of arrows.
• From whatever little is known about their way of life, the Sentinelese haven’t progressed to agriculture yet. Their diet is believed to include coconuts, fish, turtles and even birds. Instead of wearing clothes, they use natural materials such as leaves and strings.
• Population estimates vary from 40 to 350, which means any contact with the Sentinelese that goes even slightly awry can have catastrophic consequences for the entire tribe. Miraculously, they survived the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. According to some accounts, they did this by moving to higher ground in time.

By: Vishal